Break out
by Chibi Duelist
Summary: Abby Elizabeth is a mercenary that was rescued by the one and only Greil Mercenaries and now is a part of them. Follow her on her journey with Ike and the others in the storyline of Radiant Dawn! Put on hold as of right now...
1. Chapter 1

Hey! ^_^ This is my first official Fire Emblem story, so give it a chance… please? I've written four other stories for other stuff and I really like this series, so I thought I'd try to make a fan fiction of it! I've only played Radiant Dawn, Path of Radiance, and Shadow Dragon and Radiant Dawn was by far the best one! Love Ike and all those people. Lol. Just to let you know, this is going to be kinda like the RD story line, this is just my idea of a random story. But mostly it's made up stuff. Anyway, hope you like it! ;D

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(3rd POV)

Bengion camps were brutal. Laguz treated less than livestock day in and day out. Soldiers that were on guard of the beasts smirked in satisfaction as they cracked a whip on their backs when they slowed down there pace. The Laguz always wanted to transform and snap the scum's neck in their razor sharp jaws, but knew that it wasn't the smartest thing to do. The last one to try it… was killed instantly. The residents knew better than to attempt to harm the soldiers after that. Even the strongest of the many thousand didn't dare harm a single Beorc hair on their heads… no matter how bad they wanted to.

But there was one girl that stood out from the rest. Her name was Abby Elizabeth. And she was the most different you could get at a Laguz slave camp. She was a Beorc. She has shoulder length coal black hair with dark sea green eyes, and a very slim figure. The girl stood at around 5'4 so she was shorter than the other slaves were and she was bout sixteen. Her story goes that her best friend was a Laguz and was going to be taken to the slave camps. She volunteered to go in her place so she could stay with her family in Gallia. Abby was just another orphan that her friend's family had been caring enough to take her in off the streets. For two years, she's been stuck here, but not without a soul purpose other than being Bengion's dog.

When she lived in Gallia, she had taught herself how to use a sword. And during her time here, she had been teaching the younger ones how to defend themselves with not just their incredible Laguz strength, but also with a blade. She was fairly good with the weapon considering she had only been using one for about three years. She taught the kids in the dead of night in the shacks where the soldiers would never look and they would most likely never be caught and killed. She always thought it was worth the risk to teach younger Laguz how to defend themselves without transforming.

"This bites. We've been working more than usual," She complained softly so no one would here. The Laguz next to her nodded in agreement. They didn't treat her like the other Beorc in the area. She was going through the same hell they were… so why treat her as if she was the one punishing them? She couldn't help it if it was her race causing this much pain and suffering; no one could.

"Beorc girl, keep it up! No slacking off!" One of the guards yelled as they slapped the long hard whip on her back. She bit her lip, but didn't cry out. She wouldn't give them the satisfaction of hearing her scream. The man chuckled and smiled devilishly. She narrowed her eyes and him and continued to work in the fields along with her Laguz partners.

Night came slowly for the captives after working for about ten hours with no breaks. The only reason they were aloud to stop was so they could eat their lunch provided by Bengion… a piece of dry bread. To them, it was one of the best things they could get.

Abby looked out into the night and scanned the grounds, making sure there weren't any guards lurking around the area. She looked back into the tent that she shared with some of the Laguz and signaled the kids to come. The oldest was thirteen while the youngest was ten. The Laguz picked the locks on their shackles and ran to their teacher. Thanks to Abby, they had been able to figure out how to get out of their locks with just a hairpin.

"Come on, let's go," She said as she guided them toward the shacks. The four kids followed her with a slight smile on their faces. They had thought once or twice about just running from the camp since they weren't bound to the ground by chains anymore. But they knew that would be foolish. They would get caught or get shot with an arrow from long distance. One way or another, they would die. The girl opened the door to the building and ran in with the others. One iron sword and four wooden ones sat in the corner.

They all got their weapons and Abby was about to say something when they heard something outside. She put a hand on one of their chests and put a finger to her lips. They nodded and leaned up against the wall. They all heard running and shouting of Bengion soldiers outside. Abby put her ear to the door and listened into some of the soldiers conversations.

"Who's entering camp?" One of them asked another.

"I hear it's those Greil Mercenary bastards! They've already broke through our first line of men and they need assistants as soon as possible. We have to go help them now!" He shouted back. Abby's face put on a smile. She was originally from Crimea and had heard of the Greil Mercenaries. They had just about took down the whole Daein army with the Crimean Royal Army during the Mad King's War. She had only heard stories though, she had never met them in person.

"Who are the Greil Mercenaries?" One of the kids asked. Abby put a hand over her mouth and a finger over her lips again. She gave her teacher an apologetic look. The dark haired girl nodded in understanding and smiled, removing her hand. They heard the two soldiers that were in front of the building run off to go assist their coworkers.

"The Greil Mercenaries, Roxy, are good people. I don't know why they're here, but it's probably good. They might even try to bust some of us out," She encouraged. Their faces beamed with excitement and smiled. "Don't get too excited guys. If you have too much hope, you may disappoint yourselves if they don't come. But have faith, little ones, have faith."

"Yes master," The thirteen year old replied with a smirk.

"I'm going outside to get a better look. I'll be back inside in a minute. If you hear a struggle, don't move a muscle even if you know it's me out there, got it?" She ordered. They nodded with a serious look on their faces. She stepped out a little bit and saw all of the troops scrambling to get to the battle ground. Abby looked out to find the farthest abandoned building that she knew of. "Guys, come on out. We're going to a different building."

"Yes ma'am," The students called.

All five of them ran towards the empty shack with caution. They could see the battle from the door. Strong looking men and women were all fighting the Bengion scum. There was a teenage girl with orange hair with a staff running around the battle field healing her allies. A blonde man with blue and bulky armor was fighting off a few soldiers with his lance. Then there was a blue haired man with a large sword taking on numerous enemies at a time. Abby knew from the blue hair that the person fighting was none other than the savior of Crimea, Ike Greil. She stared at him and admired his swordsmanship, but not for long because she didn't want to gawk at him. She wasn't that kind of person.

"Gatrie, go get as many prisoners as you can!" Ike ordered. The blonde, Gatrie, nodded and knocked out the people he was fighting to follow his orders. He ran over to the tents and looked over to where the five were standing. The youngest one had a terrified look on her face, making Gatrie run over to them.

"Hey… I'm here to help you get back home, okay?" He said to the little girl. He stood up and looked Abby in the eye. "Name's Gatrie, I'm here to bust as many of you guys as I can. Can you tell me where the others are?"

Abby nodded. "They're all in that tent over there. We got out by picking our locks but… the soldiers here have us too scared to run away," She answered.

"Thank you. I want you guys to run around the battlefield; there's a man with light green hair waiting for you. His name's Rolf, he'll help get you out of here," He directed.

"I want to help you get these people out of here. They don't deserve to live like this," Abby protested. "Kids, do as Mr. Gatrie says and go find Rolf; remember: light green hair. I'll catch up with you as soon I'm done helping get everyone out of this camp."

"But teacher-" They argued.

"Go! I want you guys to stay safe, alright? Even if that means I get caught and killed, stay together and don't get lost," She encouraged. She looked at Mitch, the oldest and a cat Laguz. "Mitch, take care of them if I don't come back." He nodded and took the smallest kids hands, running into the woods. She and Gatrie looked at each other and nodded.

"You're a good teacher and guide to them. How long have you been at this prison and what kind of Laguz are you," He asked.

"Thanks. I've been here for about two years and… I'm not a Laguz. I traded myself with my friend so she wouldn't have to come to this hellhole. I don't have a family, but she does so I wanted her to stay with her family… to keep it as happy as possible," She answered with sincerity in her voice. He shot her a shocked look, but then looked her in the eyes and saw determination.

"Then let's get these guys out of here before the battle is called off!"

About an hour later, Ike couldn't hold the line much longer without reinforcements. "Gatrie, we're going to have to go and make do with who we can save! I'm sorry, but this is too much, we have to retreat for now! Get back with the people you have!" The blue haired warrior called out to his friend. The two of them had managed to gather everyone in her tent as well as two others, which was just about half of the whole camps prisoners. Abby and Gatrie guided then to where Rolf was waiting and sent them with him. The blonde soldier asked if she could stay behind a minute or two to talk with the commander. She said yes and said her final good-byes to her students, who said they would all miss her.

She sat down on a rock, waiting for the commander of the operation. Ike walked up to her and she stood up with a slight smile on her face. "Abby, correct? That's what I heard from Gatrie."

"That's right, Sir. Abby Elizabeth. It's an honor to meet you, Sir," She greeted.

"You don't have to be so formal. Please, just call me Ike. Anyway, my friend told me that you are not of Laguz descent… yet you were imprisoned in a Laguz slave camp. Is this true?" He asked. She nodded. "I see. He also informed me of your heroic behavior and your kindness towards the scared children. He says you would make a great leader. Tell me, do you have any weapons experience?"

"I do actually. I started using a sword about three years ago and I would say that I'm not half bad at using one. Why do you ask?"

He chuckled. "Would you like to become a part of the Greil Mercenaries?"

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So, this is Abby's story! Tell me if you like my OC or not and please be nice in the reviews if you leave one, which would be really appreciated. I love getting reviews. ^_^ I hope you all enjoyed my little story and I will continue it in the near future! I promise! ;D

Reviews + Being Nice = Happy me.


	2. Chapter 2

This is the shortest chapter that I have ever written… it's one sentence. And all of you people that like this story should review this one!

Should I continue the story?

There's your new chapter! A very important question. Please answer if you want to keep reading this or else, I'm going to trash it and go back to mostly focusing on my yu-gi-oh stories. Bye! ^_^


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry that I didn't update quickly. Gotta Algebra exam coming up and I've been stressing about it. I'm a little 8th grader that didn't take pre-algebra that skipped it completely and went straight to Algebra 1! T.T Oh well, I have a B in that class, so I'm good. By the way, I'm more comfortable writing in 1st person POV, so I'll write in Abby's POV. That okay? Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter! ^_^

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(Abby's POV.)

I walked over to the green fields, the pine smell filling my nose. My sword held on my waist and my black hair falling in front of my face. I saw everyone already in the open area, training just in case we were called on another mission. Never know when those towns' folk will need us, right? Last week we had to get a little kids cat out of a tree and we thought someone was dying or something. At least we got the cat I guess. That's all that matters.

It's been about nine months since I joined up with the Greil Mercenaries. They've all treated me like family. Ike's been helping me master my ways with a sword. Rolf has been hanging out with me. He says that I'm like an older sister to him, him being a year or so younger than me. Mia loved to spar with me when she had the chance. Well, she likes to spar with just about everyone. Soren… he doesn't like me too much, but I've noticed that he's actually starting to have conversations with me about tactical strategies and all that good stuff. I think he's starting to warm up to me after all this time.

"Abby, you're here!" A girly voice called as it ran up to me. No one other than Mia could have a voice like that. Maybe Mist, but she doesn't like to train much with us. I usually find her working by herself behind her tent with her sword.

"Hey Mia. You seem more chipper than usual today, anything special going on?" I asked, following her to our usual stop for dueling. She took out her steel sword slowly, as if to intimidate me. I smirked and pulled mine out as well.

She shrugged. "Nope, not really! I guess I'm just really happy today! I have a feeling that we're going on an assignment soon, maybe that's why. The last one was really boring. We didn't get to kill any bandits, just rescuing a cat… well, it did make that kid happy," She muttered to herself. I chuckled and thrusted my blade at her. She dodged and pouted. "Hey, I wasn't ready!"

"At least you got out of the way in time!" I teased.

She smirked and gave me a look that said, "You are going down." I took that gaze as a challenge. We both clashed our weapons together, causing a loud clang to be sent out through the area. They hit each other repeatedly, no one landing a single blow. That is, until she looked to the other way and lost her focus. I parried her weapon, sending it flying out of her hand.

"Ha, I beat you this time!" I declared. Right as I said that, a burst of fire appeared in front of my foot, making me jump a little. I looked to where it had come from and saw Soren with his Fire Tomb. I glared at him, while he only smiled.

"Soren, was that really necessary?" Ike asked with a disapproving expression on his face.

"Yes it was. You have an announcement and she wasn't paying attention to you, so I cast a spell to get her attention. Doesn't that work?" The mage shot back. Ike sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Anyway," Ike began, "I've gotten a message… from the royal palace. It seems Lady Lucia has been taken captive by Duke Ludveck, the same man who is trying to start a full-blown civil war. One of the royal knights rode up to our base today and informed us that Ludveck and his army are going to be advancing on Fort Alpea, where the queen is hiding. He's told us that the royal knights headed out about five hours ago, which is probably enough time for Ludveck's army to get to the fort. We have reason to believe that Lucia is going to be held as a bartering item if Ludveck looses and is captured. Our mission is to rescue Lucia is it becomes necessary. Our main concern is to stay hidden and not make our move until the last possible second. Does everyone understand?"

We all nodded.

"Good. We head out in ten minutes. Meet me and Titania at the edge of the base so we can leave," He commanded. We all made our way to our tents to get our supplies. I walked into my small tent and took some herbs out of my stash that I keep under my bed. I figured that I wouldn't need much. I put my sword on my waist, making sure it was secure. I smirked in satisfaction and met everyone at the edge of camp.

"Am I the only one who doesn't want to go on this mission," Shinion muttered.

"Yes," The rest of us said in unison. He grunted and put his bow on his back, not saying a word. After that, we started making our way to the fort. The weird thing was… we didn't even think about the mission as we walked. It was as if we were all just taking a hike in the woods with nothing to worry about. As if no ones life was in danger. I guess it's so we aren't stressed and freaking out at the battle.

Ike slowed his pace down and stood next to me. "Sorry about earlier. Soren just has his… ways of getting peoples attention I guess. Fire is one of them," He apologized. I smiled and shrugged. "So, what's been going on with you lately?"

"Nothing much. Training, rescuing cats out of trees, all that fun stuff," I said sarcastically. He pushed me playfully in the shoulder and I pushed back. We both chuckled to ourselves and looked at each other for a split second. "What about you?"

"Same. But I don't think the cat liked me very much. It tried to claw my face out! And somehow, I get along with Laguz great," He mumbled. I laughed.

"Maybe that's because you helped about two hundred back at that camp! If it wasn't for you, then I would still be working in the fields and mines. You guys saved a lot of people and their families," I replied. He shook his head with a smirk placed on his lips.

"Are you ever going to let me forget that? I helped get you out of that hell hole, what's the big deal? Can't you just say 'thanks' and be done with it?" He joked. I shook my head like he had before. "Figures. You're one of the most stubborn people I have ever met."

"But that's why you keep me around," I teased. He didn't answer. I glanced over at him and I thought… I saw a pinkish blush touch his cheeks. His gaze moved over to me and I looked away quickly, my face becoming slightly flushed in embarrassment that he had seen me looking at him.

Boyd, who was in front of the group announced, "I can see the fort, we're almost there! Whoa… you guys gotta see this battle, it's intense!" Ike and I looked at each other in worry and ran to catch up with the green haired warrior.

He was right. People were shouting and you could hear soldiers screaming from their wounds on the battlefield. It almost made me cringe, but I'm a soldier myself, so I can't let it faze me too much. There were small fires spreading all across the grounds and the worst part was… all of these people were from the same country, fighting over something stupid.

"Boss, isn't that Queen Elincia leading the army?" Rolf questioned from behind us. Ike and I couldn't see much through the smoke, so it was hard to tell. I squinted my eyes and saw what looked like the outline of a Pegasus.

"Damn, she is commander. Elincia is heading the whole fleet. She's on the top of the fort seeing over the fight," I told him. He cursed under his breath.

"We have to keep moving! We don't stop until we get at least two hundred yards away from the gates of the castle! Besides, I have a feeling this fight is going to be over pretty soon," Ike directed. We followed his orders and made our way down the hill and toward the fort. As we got closer, we began to see what looked like a mob of people. There in the center was a stand with a rope… to hang someone. If their leader failed, they would hang Lucia to get her majesty to hand Ludveck over. At least, that's what I guessed they would do.

"Where do we go?" Rhys asked quietly, as if the shouting mob of people would hear him.

"Shinion, Rolf, you guys go into that tree. If they put Lucia's head into the rope, shoot it and brake the knot. Rhys, Mist, you guys go into the crowd so when we hand Lucia off to you, you can heal any wounds she may have. Soren, Mia, Abby, Gatrie, Boyd and I will spread around the whole group. Oscar and Titania, you guys wait in the woods. The signal will be Rolf's or Shinion's arrow cutting the rope. Once it flies, we go. After that… we improvise," Ike planned out. "Alright, go!"

The whole group dispersed and went to their areas that they had been assigned. My party ended up surrounding the large group from the woods. I could see Titania's horse slightly sticking out of the thick brush, while the others I couldn't see at all. We waited there for what seemed like forever before anything was heard of the ending of the battle.

"Duke Ludveck has been defeated! Bring out the girl!" One of the soldiers called to another. An unsettled murmur was spread throughout the crowd. I looked over to where the other guard had been and saw a woman with short blue hair being brought out. I took it that the person was in fact Lucia. She didn't show any signs of struggle when they put her onto the platform. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it seemed to be addressed to someone on the fort.

It was Elincia.

My body tensed and I put a hand on the hilt of my sword. She turned away from the crowd and left. I wondered where she was going. The whole area was still and quiet. It made me want to just move in right now and save Lucia. But I was given orders to not move a muscle until an arrow flew through the air.

About ten minutes later, the queen returned with a sad expression on her face. I couldn't quite make out what she was saying, but it sounded something on the lines of not letting Ludveck go and making him stand trial. I bit my bottom lip and drew my sword.

Lucia stood proud on the platform, not seeming scared at all. I looked to where Rolf and Shinion were. Rolf had his bow pulled back, but he didn't fire. He let the string back down and looked at the older archer. Shinion sighed and pulled his bow back, letting the arrow fly. The arrow hit its mark perfectly, Lucia falling off of the stand. I saw Ike run out of his position and catch her. The crowd let out a gasp at his appearance. I chuckled and let Ike take the glory for a while. He pulled out Ettard, his best sword, and killed three soldiers at once, while keeping the girl on his shoulder. I figured that he had, had enough pride for this mission and ran out with all of the others.

The Greil Mercenaries fought the whole lot of soldiers. No one even got hurt. I looked over my shoulder and saw Ike hand Lucia off to Rhys and Mist. They both set her down on the ground and Rhys pulled out his mend staff. He began to say the spell or prayer or whatever it is… but there was five guards coming up on them quickly. I ran up to them, killing the first one with a single swipe of my steel blade. The other four took a step back and glared at me.

"Thanks Abby. We didn't see them coming," Mist said from behind me. I nodded with a smile on my face. I charged at the defense force with my weapon held high. Lets just say I took care of them with ease. The only wound I got was a small cut on my arm. I looked back at Rhys and Mist to find Lucia looking fine, but she was asleep.

"She'll wake up in a couple hours at most. We should get her back to her majesty. She's been though a lot, I bet she'll want to see her best friend," Rhys implied. "Commander, everything is done here!"

Ike responded to the call by jogging over to us. "Excellent. I'll carry her up to the main room. Abby, you can come with me if you want. Mist, Rhys, you both look really tired. Why don't you guys head on home with the others. Abby and I will catch up later."

They both smirked. "Thanks brother!" Mist yelled as she ran to get with the rest of the Greil Mercenaries. Rhys laughed and followed the red haired girl. I looked at Ike, who was smiling.

"Come on. The queen wants to talk to me. I wanted you to stay behind 'cause I wanted someone to back me up if I'm in any trouble," He joked. I pushed him in the shoulder and he pushed back. "Don't do that, I'm carrying a person!"

"Oh right, sorry."

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If you've played Radiant Dawn, then you'll know what Elincia has to talk to Ike about. Did you like it better in first person or third person better? I like righting in first person for Fire Emblem stories, but third person for anything else… it's weird. Hope you liked this one and sorry that it was delayed! ^_^ Please review and be nice! Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

I've been busy lately and I haven't had much time to type up stuff. Sorry. Plus, my labtop is really stupid and gets a virus on it about every other week! (Smacks the labtop.) Can't this thing work right for a week without screwing up? I've only had it since July! *Sigh* Oh well. Hope you enjoy this new chapter thing! ^_^

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Ike and I walked up to where her majesty were waiting. Elincia saw Lucia in our arms and ran over to us, as did Geoffery. The blue haired knight took the girl out of Ike's arms and smiled, thanking us with a slight nod. Elincia only smiled at us.

"You have no idea how much this mean to me. Making that desicion... was so hard for me. To watch Lucia die... I did not wish to watch it. So, the Greil Mercenaries have my thanks from everyone here in Crimea," She said in a whisper. Ike and I both smirk.

"It was our pleasure to rescue lady Lucia, your majesty. I apologize though that we had to stay hidden until the last possible moment," Ike explained.

"Yes. For a rescue like that to work, we must fool both our allies as well as our enemies," I added. "If we had not of stayed in the trees, then we may have been discovered. And if we had told you about our plan ahead of time, that may not of ended well for anyone, including lady Lucia, your majesty. You have our apologizes"

Elincia waved us off. "Not to worry. What's behind us is behind us. I'm just grateful that you were able to save my best friend... my sister if you will," She thanked again. Geoffery came back in the room with a smile on his face.

"You saved my actual sister... you have my eternal gratitude."

Seems like everyone is out to thank us. I looked towards Ike and he looked at me. When he saw that I was looking at him, he looked away in a hurry. I raised an eyebrow and turned my head back to the queen. A weird feeling came up in my stomach, like butterflies. Why did I have butterflies in my stomach? What is there to cause them? Sure, I'm in the presents of royalty, but that should make me nervous. I've been with the queen at least one other time before this. Maybe it was just random. Things like that happen right?

"Well, we best be going. We have to catch up with the rest of our company," Ike informed politely.

Elincia's face lit up and she said, "Wait, Sir Ike! I have must speak to you about something important... in private." Geoffrey and I took the hint and left the room.

I went out the exit while he went back to check on his sleeping sister. I leaned up against the castle walls and put a hand on my arm. Pain shot through it and I winced. I rolled up my sleeve slowly and remembered that I had been cut when I was defending Mist and Rhys. The dark red blood had dried by now and had become sore. I tore off a small part of my green long-sleeve shirt and tied it around the closed wound. I looked down to see how dirty I had gotten, not like I cared though. My navy blue pants had grass and mud stains all over them and my brown boots were a little worn and torn. I shrugged it off and waited for commander to come out of his conference with the queen.

About five minutes later, he stepped out, only saying, "Thank you for this information. It means a lot to me." He walked out, not even glancing at me, just walking striaght by me.

"Commander, wait for me!" I called. He shot me a look from over his shoulder to agknowledge my presents. "If you don't mind me asking, why did the queen want to talk to you?"

"Um... When we're alone, okay?" He suggested, gesturing to the guards and healers running though the hallways. I nodded in response and walked by his right side. He looked down at me, I being about three inches shorter than him. "What's with the wrappings? Did you get hurt during the fight?"

I put a hand over the green cloth. "Nothing you need to worry about, sir. Just a scratch. I'll be fine," I reassured. He stared at me with the 'gimmie a break' look. "What? It's not that bad!"

"You said that about the last five wounds you've gotten. First one: You got stabbed in the gut, saying it was all good. Second one: You had lost so much blood, you passed out when we were walking off the field! Third one: ... well, that one was actually just a scratch. Fourth: You had an arrow sticking out of your back when you and me were taking down the guy in charge! Fifth: You-"

"Shut up, I get it!" I yelled with a chuckle in my voice. I pulled the make-do bandages off and showed him the cut. "See? A meer scratch!" He looked at it closely and smirked.

"Guess you were right, but does it hurt when I do this?" He pushed me in the arm where the small wound was. I groaned and staggered to the left. I glared at him, pushing him back. "Taking that as a 'yes'." I nodded and raised my eyebrows. He laughed and patted my back. We walked out of the castle after the twists and turns of the numerous hallways. It seemed like it was brighter outside since it had been so dark in the castle walls. "Ya know, besides Soren and Mist, you're the only one that can take my sense of humor."

"Really? You have a sense of humor?" I said sarcastically. He glared jokingly at me. "No seriously, we're the only ones?"

"Yeah. Everyone else is all business. Boyd does sometimes, maybe Rolf... actually, most people get it, but they just don't like to play along like you guys do. But if I try to mess with Shinion or Oscar, I usally get punched in the face... not really, I just get a mean look and then they walk away."

"Hey, that reminds me, what did the queen talk to you about?" I asked, remembering the promise that he had made to me in the building. He scratched the back of his head shyly and let out a sigh. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I was... I was just wondering."

"No, I'll tell you," He said. "Have you ever heard of... The Black Knight?"

I thought about it for a minute. "Wasn't he one of the four Riders of Daein? And... the guy that killed your f-father?"

The only reason why I recalled it was because of the story he had told me about him. He had said that The Black Knight was the guy that had killed his dad in cold blood at night during the Mad King's War. It's been about three years if I remember correctly. I know what it's like loosing parents. Both my mom and dad were killed when I was a little girl... I still don't know what from though. I was only five and I can't remember much about anything back then. The only thing I do remember was finding my parents dead in our house. After that, I ran because I thought the whole thing was my fault. Maybe if I would have stayed then I would've figured out who had killed them.

"But didn't you say that you killed him in some castle? Like, the whole thing came crashing down on him when you and your sister ran out?" I questioned. He nodded. "Then why the topic of the Black Knight?"

"Apparently... he was spotted in Daein helping the Liberation Army," He explained. My eyes went wide. The Black Knight was actually... still alive?

"That's not possible from the stories that you've told me!" I argued. "How can someone live when a whole huge building is crashing down on them? You watched him get crushed, didn't you?" He turned his head away from my gaze and bit his lower lip.

"No evidence ever came up. No body, no sword, no armor, nothing that resembled the Black Knight ever showed up when they were cleaning up the rubble," Ike informed me. I stared at the ground in disbelief. "But, I know I'm ready to face him again! I'm going to take him down for the things he did! You don't have to worry about a thing, I'll protect everyone to the best of my abilities."

"When did I ever say I was worried? I know you will," I admitted. We both looked at each other and quickly looked away with a blush on our faces. "I mean, you're stubborn l-like that. You won't stop until he's dead, right?" He nodded swiftly and we quickened our paces to get back home. But... why had he out of nowhere say that I wouldn't have to worry and that he'd protect everyone? I hadn't said anything to set off that sentence. Maybe, like the butterflies before, they had just come to randomly. Once we caught up with the rest of the Greil Mercenaries, Ike and I went to talk with our other friends. I guess it was getting a little awkward just the two of us walking in silence.

Oscar cooked us dinner for the night and we all stood in the dinning hall descussing the mission that day. Boyd and I were argueing about who did a better job. In the end, I won with saving Lucia, Mist and Rhys from the soldiers. I laughed at the green haired warrior, who had his head hung in shame. Out of nowhere, Soren came in with a slight smile on my face. Instantly, I knew that either something really good happened or that wasn't even Soren 'cause Soren doesn't smile too often.

"Ike there's someone here to see you," He said with a happy tone in his voice. We all looked at Ike and then to the entrance. A blue haired Laguz stepped through the door with a big smile on his face, his fangs showing. His eyes were mismatched. One was a strange teal color and the other seemed purple. His hair was unkept and his tail was as well. He had on a brown sleeveless shirt and tan cargo pants. Ike's eyes went wide in surprise.

"So your here, I'm glad I found you, you're never home," The Laguz teased. Ike came over and greeted his friend with a hug. "It's been a lond time Ike. Haven't seen ya since the Mad King's War ended."

"Ranulf, how are you?" Ike asked the Laugz, Ranulf. He shrugged. "Caineghis well?"

"Well, for us Laguz, it's hard not to be well! He's great for the old basterd he is... don't tell him I said that," He whispered. A lot of us chuckled. He looked over to me and raised an eyebrow. "Hello you! Ike, you got some new meat since the Mad King's War, did ya? Don't recognize you... either you're new... or I'm going crazy and can't remeber you."

I laughed shyly and scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, I'm the newest one! Name's Abby Elizabeth!" I introduced myself. He took my right hand in his and shook it.

"Name's Ranulf!" He said proudly. "So, how'd you get stuck with a hot-head like Ike?"

"Hey, I'm not a hot-head!" Ike yelled in protest.

"Shut it hot-head!" Ranulf shouted back. Ike crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at the Laguz. "So, how'd you become a mercenary?"

I was silent for a minute before answering. "I um... I was in a Bengion Laguz slave camp when they c-came to bust everyone out. I helped out a little bit and things just clicked I guess." His eyes widened a little. He touched the top of my head, runnind his hands though my black hair. I raised an eyebrow in complete confusion. Then he removed his hands then looked at my face, grabbing it with his left hand. "Can I help you with something?"

"You're not a Laguz right? No ears, no face markings, nothing! Why were you at a Bengion Laguz Labor camp then if you're not a Laguz?" He questioned me. Ike put a hand on his friend's shoulder, shaking his head. "Oh, I see. You did the holy favor of Laguz." (A/N: I just made up the holy favor. I need something to get Ranulf to act all stupid and grateful... I see Ranulf as a goofy Laguz. ^_^)

"Did the what now?" I muttered, just about as confused as I was when his hands were in my hair.

"You took the place of some Laguz who were going to be taken to that camp, right?" He guessed. I nodded slowly, and out of thin air, he wrapped me in a hug. "See, then you did the holy favor of Laugz! You helped our race even though you're a Beorc!" He hugged me tighter and I had trouble getting oxygen to my lungs.

"Ranulf, I don't think she can breathe," Ike said calmly, as if it wasn't really a big deal. Ranulf let me go and chuckled shyly. "Sorry, he can be a dork sometimes. Now, tell me, what is the point of your visit? It's not like you to drop in on random occasions Ranulf. Spill, what's going on?"

The Laguz's face dimmed down and became a little more pale. "Ya see... Galllia is going to war with Bengion."

"Say what!" We all yelled in unision.

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Hope you liked the new chapter. Please review. If you do, you are filled with awesomeness. Even if you don't review, you are still filled with awesomeness for reading this.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

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I walked to the main tent in the base and let Ranulf in. Apparently, a Heron named Rafiel had told the Hawk King Tibarn something very disturbing. It's said that the Senate of Bengion planned the Serenes Massacre. It made me sick to know something that killed hundreds of people could be planned out by other people. And when Gallia sent a messenger to get proof of the things they had been told, Bengion didn't just deny the claims, but they killed the messenger. That was just wrong and I won't stand for it, and apparently Ike along with the others wouldn't either. We had a meeting with Ranulf to discuss what the next plan of action would be. We all agreed on going with Ranulf to see Skrimir with the army he was forming. After that, a lot of us went off to bed, including me. Only Ike and Soren stayed back to talk to the blue haired Laguz about strategy.

"You think we'll have a chance with this?" Rolf asked me as he walked up to my side. I shrugged and shot him a reassuring smile. "I've just been a little worried since the Mad King's War is all. Don't get me wrong, I want to help the Laguz as much as I can! Ranulf's my friend too!"

I chuckled. "Don't worry so much Rolf. Everything is going to be fine. Besides, we don't even leave to meet up with Skrimir until morning, so I think we should get our belongings together. Ike's probably going to make us get up at dawn, and we won't have much time to get our things into our bags."

"Good point... now I have to get my bow and stuff together! I'll see ya in the morning, Abby. G'night!" The moss green haired archer called as he ran off toward his tent. I walked into mine and lit a match, lighting the wick of the candle I kept near the foot of my bed. There was just enough light to see around my room. I yawned, just then realizing how late it had gotten. Talking to Ranulf can make you forget what time it was. I took my clothes off and changed into my grey t-shirt and black shorts to go to bed. After I found my over-the-shoulder bag, I stuffed my other clothes and herbs into it. I pulled my hair up in a small ponytail and put my bag in the corner of my room. Leaving the candle lit so I wouldn't have to light it in the morning again, I layed down in my bed and pulled the sheet up.

I dozed off once or twice, but never actually got to sleep. I turned in the bed and sighed. Maybe I was just excited for the trip. I glanced outside and thought I saw someone outside my tent. I layed still and the figure seemed to come toward my tent. My nerves shot awake and I put my hand on the hilt of my blade that had been under my bed from before.

"Hey, it's Ike. You still up?" Ike whispered. I laughed at myself for being so worried.

"I'm up," I whispered back. "Come on in." He pushed the flap back and smiled at me. He still had his normal clothes on, so I bet he was just now coming back from his meeting with Ranulf. I propped myself up on my elbows and raised an eyebrow at him. "Is there something you need to talk to me about, Sir?"

"Why do you always call me that? It's always either, 'commander' or 'sir.' What's with that? Can't you just call me Ike like everyone else does?" He teased. I glared jokingly at him. "Anyway, I just came in here to tell you that we leave at dawn. Could you come see me at my tent tomorrow morning? I um... kinda need some help getting my stuff together." I laughed and sat up completely. He looked away and blushed. I looked down at myself, but saw nothing wrong. It was just a T-shirt. "I... well, g'night. See ya in the morning!" With that, he sprinted out of my tent, leaving me really confused and a little more tired than before. I shrugged and layed back down, this time falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

* * *

The first small rays of sun hit my eyes when they opened at dawn. I rubbed my face, yawning and sitting up. Remembering my conversation I had with Ike the night before, I got dressed and put my night clothes in my bag. I threw that over my shoulder and put my sword on my waist, making my way to Ike's tent. I walked across the whole camp, passing by a few other mercenaries as I came by. I heard Ike say something that involved my name, so I came in. Turned out, he was asleep.

"Abby, stop cheating! Your... you're not p-playing rock paper scissors right," He mumbled in his sleep. I rolled my eyes at his weird dream where we were apparently playing rock paper scissors. I pushed him out of his bed, the reward of him groaning in pain and annoyance filling my ears. "Hm? What the- why are you in my room?" He questioned.

"You told me to come help you pack your things this morning, and you were still asleep and dreaming about me and you playing rock paper scissors... and I was cheating. How do you cheat in that game exactly?" I asked. He scratched the back of his head and shrugged. I chuckled and turned around to get some of his things together. I grabbed his bag from the corner of the room and picked up some of his clothes laying on the floor. I felt a strong hand grab my arm and I glanced behind me.

"You don't have to do that, y'know," He said seriously. "Truthfully, I just wanted to hang out with you before we started on our journey."

"Well, I'm no use to you if I just sit around and talk, so I may as well do something that can help you," I replied. He rolled his eyes and got out of bed finally. He had his tan pants on but... with no shirt. I instantly looked away, my face becoming warm. He shot me a confused look then gazed down at himself and rolled his eyes.

"Oh, you don't have to look away! I'm sure you've seen plenty of shirtless men in your time! I'm no different!" He argued. I didn't move my gaze from the floor. "Fine. Let's just get moving and get my things together since you already woke me up."

"The others are already up, so why weren't you?" I teased. He narrowed his eyes at me playfully and threw his pillow at my face. I ducked, laughing. "Hey, what was that for? No need to throw a pillow at me, commander!" He didn't answer and only started picking his clothes up and pulling them out of his nightstand droor. Picking the pillow up, I stuffed it into his bed. My blue haired master pulled a shirt over his torso, so I was able to look at him without my face going red. It didn't take us very long to get his possession together, maybe about five or ten minutes. We walked out of his room and making our way around camp to find Ranulf and the others.

Once we were all together, Ranulf took charge in leading everyone on the seven hour trip to his home of Gallia. It didn't seem like seven hours though... more like twenty four long and painful hours of walking nonstop. Ranulf, halfway through the journey, transformed into his cat form and walked on all fours. I found this unfair and chuckled to myself. Ike groaned in protest of how long we had to walk. But when we finally got there, Skrimir slightly glared at us, but he gave us each a tent to sleep in and put our stuff down. My tent was next to Mia's and Titania's. Once all of our belongings were unpacked and put away, we were called to the first meeting.

Ranulf began by saying, "We have our next target." The room instantly got a little more tense. "Flagguerre is close now. It's a fortress city near the Bengion border. We'll storm the city at night and hit them fast enough that the troops inside the fortress won't have time to take their positions."

Skrimir's eyes glimmered with anticipation. "Yes! Finally, a chance to rend my foes!" He declared. "But I would rather have a head-on fight. Why must we wait until nightfall like a pack of cowards?"

Ranulf sighed and stayed silent. Ike walked over to his friend. "What's our role in this?" He asked.

"I want the Greil Mercenaries to act as a guerrilla force. Take out their fire mage and ballistae. They're really bad news for us Laguz," The blue haired cat Laguz answered. Ike nodded and backed away when he saw Skrimir walk back up to his second in command.

"Bah, enough talking! To the battlefield, to taste my enemies' fear! No more waiting!" He yelled impatiently.

Ranulf shook his head. "No Skrimir, this isn't the kind of fight where a general takes the field. You should stay behi-"

"Are you insane? Oh, I'll fight! A general of Gallia does not hide behind his men! Leave this 'tactics' garbage to the Beorc. We only need our claws and teeth! I call an end to this meeting! Time to kill!" The hot headed lion burst out of the tent, leaving the rest of us scratching our heads.

"Wait, Skrimir! ... Blast, not again," Ranulf muttered to himself. Ike, still seeming confused by Skrimir's harsh action of just barging out, walked up to his friend, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" He asked with a slight chuckle in his voice. The cat laguz sighed.

"Yeah. That thickheaded fool... This'll be his first major battle. Hopefully he won't get his teeth kicked out of his jaw," He said with a smirk. Ike laughed. "What about you Ike? Are you sure about this?"

"Sure about what?"

"Well, you know... I'm a Laguz... You're a Beorc. You really sure you want to take our side?" Ranulf asked with concern. We all turned to face our commander, wondering what would come out of his mouth. He stared at the ground for a moment, as if lost in thought. Then, he finally looked up.

"The Laguz Alliance is in the right, Ranulf. The senate is actively ignoring you, and worse, they're murdering your messenger. Why shouldn't we help you get the senate's attention? I think my people will be able to understand that. Besides... I would never abandon a friend in need," Ike answered honestly. Ranulf smiled, nodding once. With a wave of his hand, the meeting was called off. We all went our separate ways, but for some reason I couldn't figure out, Soren and Ike stayed behind, talking to Ranulf. An almost disturbed look crossed Ike's face, like what the Laguz was telling him was something he just did not want to hear.

My curiosity getting the better of me, I watched them in the shadows where I couldn't be seen. Ike's face become flustered and he crossed his arms over his chest. Soren's ever constant frown changed to a thin line, but not totally a smile. Ranulf laughed and ran a hand threw his hair. They said something, Ike's blush fading and his face becoming pale. Soren nodded, but Ranulf didn't seem too thrilled about what the mage had suggested either.

The only thing that I could make out was,"in the morning, not now," from Ike. In the morning had to be part of another statement he had said before, or else it wouldn't quite make sense. Ranulf said something like a good-bye and they all walked out of the tent. I silently ran away from my hiding spot, careful not to step on any of the crunchy fall leaves. I sat on my bed, lighting the candle with a match I had in my pocket and grabbed my brush. Right as I put the brush to my hair, Ike walked in.

"Ever heard of knocking?" I teased. He rolled his eyes.

"Too bad your room doesn't have a real door, or else I would've. But are you ready for our mission to Flagguerre? We should leave soon before Skrimir freaks out that we aren't moving fast enough," He said with a light tone in his voice. I nodded and grabbed my blade, putting it on my waist. "Y'know, if I was those Bengion creeps, I wouldn't mess with you. That sword you have is very intimidating." I smirked as we both walked out of my tent. Others pasted by us, going to catch up with the rest of the group. We just walked, talking to each other to pass the time.

* * *

**(Battle- Bengion Base: Flagguerre)**

Ike and I stood behind a small group of trees, watching for Skirmir's first move. He looked to all of his fellow Laguz behind him and smiled, his sharp teeth blaring. "Run down all that get in your way! Make your path of blood and bone! Advance! Advance! Advance!" He yelled with fire in his eyes. At the same time, they all transformed into their beast form. I took a step back. I had worked along side with thousands of Laguz before, I wasn't scared of them at all. But, Skirmir was the biggest Laguz I've ever seen in my life. It wasn't a wonder why he was the Laguz King's nephew and next in line for the Gallian throne.

"Yeesh, glad he's on our side. I can see the family resemblance," Ike muttered. He then turned to the rest of the Greil Mercenaries. "Keep up everyone! Let's get to work!" We all nodded and I took a step away from him, but he pulled me back. His face was inches away from mine. "Be careful alright? Bengion has gotten more powerful since you left that camp."

"I know, can I go now commander? The others are getting ahead of us," I pleaded. He sighed, rolling his eyes, then sent me off. I drew my steel sword and followed Oscar. I don't know why, I just felt like following a horse this time. The bad part was that the lighting was limited. I could only see about five yards ahead of where I was standing. My eyes darted back and forth, trying to see where the Bengion scum were hiding. Oscar looked behind him and his horse bucked upward.

"Behind you!" He warned. I bolted around and saw two Halberdiers (People with lances) coming up from the back. Out of reflex, I lashed out with my sword, cutting into one of their torsos, killing him. The other one didn't seem fazed by my action. His weapon was a horse-slayer... something that would give Oscar a lot of trouble. His horse bucked again, frightened by the large weapon. Oscar tried to calm it down, but nothing was working. I figured that the only way to get it back to normal was to get rid of the Halberdier. I held my weapon up to him, waiting for him to make a move. Ike's always told me never to make the first move; that it gives too much away.

He smirked at me, then thrusted his lance at me. I dodged easily and slashed upward with my sword, not knowing where it was going. It made a smallwound in his upper torso, causing him to stagger back a little bit. I smirked in satisfaction. He growled at me. He waved his lance right then left at my chest, attempting to get a shot at me. I jumped back, not getting a scratch on me. The soldier then raised his weapon in the air, granting me the chance I needed. I thrusted my blade forward, piercing his chest. He let his lance come down, me forgetting that it had been their. It cut through my shoulder plates and made a deep wound in my right shoulder. I cried out in pain and pulled my sword from the dead man.

I fell to my knees, gripping onto my stinging shoulder. Oscar, after he got his horse under control again, ran over to me and jumped off his steed. "Abby, are you okay? I'll go get Rhys, you sit tight and don't move!" He comforted. I nodded as he rode off to go find our healer. I took the time to see my surroundings. Griel Mercenaires alond with Laguz fought along side each other, taking down Bengion scum. Determind, I stood up on shaky feet and picked up my blade with my left hand. I wasn't the best fighter with my left hand, but it would have to do. I saw a line of red fur run past my vision and I fell to the ground again in surprise. It had been Skrimir. I landed on my injured shoulder and yelled out again.

"Abby, I told you not to move!" I heard Oscar scold. I bit my bottom lip and gave him an apoligetic look. Rhys was right behind him. "How's she look?"

"What happened?" The orange haired healer asked as he began to remove my armor. I winced in pain. "Sorry."

"Horse-slayer sliced right threw her armor and into her shoulder pretty good. Those things are huge too. She gonna be okay Rhys?" Oscar questioned with concern in his voice. Rhys didn't answer, which worried me. He tore my sleeve off and blood ran out of my injury. He made a discusted face, but continued to work. He pulled out his healing staff, activating the blue orb on the end. A cooling sensation swept over my whole shoulder like ice had been poored on me on a hot day. It closed up a little, but blood still made its way out of the cut. Rhys growled.

"Healing isn't gonna be enough. I'll need to put stitches in when we get back to base. For now, just don't fight," Rhys instructed. My heart sank.

"What? How do you expect me not to fight? Besides, I can't just leave you-" I began, but was cut off by a loud roar. I turned to see Skrimir was standing in front of the castle gates with the leader trembling at his feet. He shoved his fist in the air, a chorus of roars and yells were let out from the Laguz crowd. Ike was sweating about twenty yards away from us. Everyone else was a little farther behind him. I sat up, but soon regretted that decision. My shoulder still stung.

"Come on. The fight's over anyway. Now we need to get you to the Allaince hospital as soon as possible before that wound gets too infected and opens up more than it needs to be," Rhys said calmly. I nodded in defeat. Oscar picked me up gently, making sure not to hurt me, and set me on his horse. He got on and let me lean on him. I saw Ike from the corner of my eye see the two of us and concern filled his eyes. I ignored it, too tired to care at that very moment. I fell asleep despite the pain on Oscars horse as we headed back to camp.

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Sorry it was so long. Please review.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6. Hope you guys like it.

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I woke up to see two people standing over me. My vision was blurry at first and I only heard muffled voices. I sat up and shook my head, trying to get it back on straight. Ike smiled at me and then slapped me in the back of the head. "Hey, ow! What was that for?" I asked as I rubbed my now sore head.

"Because you didn't listen to me when I told you that Bengion had gotten stronger! You should've been more careful; you had me really worried when I saw you on the back of Oscar's horse knocked out!" He scolded. I rolled my eyes and layed back down, my head feeling light. I put a hand on my shoulder, feeling small stitches in my skin. It felt weird and abnormal, but whatever it took to get me back on the field with my friends was fine by me. "So, how you feeling?"

"I'm fine I guess. I feel a little light-headed, but that's about it. I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you and worried you before. I didn't mean to, commander..." I insisted. He nodded once and stood up.

"Take it easy and get better quickly... I have a new mission for you. A solo mission," The blue haired commander informed, walking out of the medic tent. I sat up in a flash with a confused look on my face. Rhys came up to me and pushed me back down on the bed slowly, saying to take it easy like Ike had said.

"A solo mission? He's never gave me something as important as a solo mission. He always said that they were too dangerous for me! Rhys... do you know something about this?" I asked my friend. He didn't answer right away, too busy wrapping my arm in gauze. I flinched and closed my eyes.

"He said that he wanted you to go... undercover I believe he described it as. Ranulf and Soren both agreed that it would be the best way to get information out of Bengion. Before the next battle, you make your way to the enemy camp, saying that you want to be hired. If you pass the tests that they give you, you're in and you can write down info that they give you along the way. Ike was never fond of the plan, but he agreed to it, under the conditions that you only have to spend a week there and no less," Rhys answered. My eyes widened. "You don't want to do this, do you?"

"No, no, no! Don't get me wrong, I want to do this for the group! It's just... I don't have the best ties with Bengion as you know and I don't know if I'd be able to help myself from killing all those Bengion scum right when I get the chance," I encouraged. He laughed and walked back over to tend to the rest of the wounded. I looked back, making sure that he wasn't looking. Seeing that he wasn't, I got up from my bed and ran out of the hospital tent in search for Ike.

Not long after my escape, I found him walking around camp. "Commander!" I yelled, trying to get his attention. He turned back and put a hand on his hip. "What?"

"You're out of your bed! I swear, if I had a gold coin for every time you disobeyed an order or just didn't listen, I'd be a very wealthy man! Now, tell me, why are you not doing what I said again and not resting. You'll need your strength for this mission that I'm giving you. It's... it's really important," He said, his tone dimming down at the last sentence. His eyes trailed down to the ground, like he didn't want to look me in the eye. I smirked.

"I know about the mission, Ike. Rhys told me all about it, and... I'm up for it! Bring on those Bengion dorks, I'll spy on them and not even get one suspicious glance from even the highest of officers! You can count on me!" I shouted, actually trying to make a fool of myself. He smirked and put his hand on my shoulder. I flinched and pushed it off. "Okay, fine. It still hurts, but I want to go on this mission as soon as I can. Today would work! By the time I get to their camp, my wound would be good as healed. What do ya say? Can I go today?"

His spikey hair fell in front of his eyes. His smile turned into a thin line and his body seemed tense. "Why are you in such a rush? Why not stay...? We can get someone else to take care of it for you. I... was supposed to tell you this morning, but since you were sleeping, I didn't want to wake you up to tell you. Ranulf, Soren and I all discussed the matter after the meeting last evening. Soren suggested that you go since you're one of the sneakiest memebers. Ranulf agreed and..." His voice trailed off after that. So that's what they were talking about last night. I still wonder what made him blush. I saw his fists clench and his jaw work, that's when it clicked.

"You're worried that I'll get hurt, aren't you?" I guessed in barely a whisper. He looked down at me, his eyes filled with doubt. "I'm not going to get caught. At least, I can try not to get caught. I mean, it's not like I haven't gone through Bengion's punishments before, so I'd be fine even if I did get captured! I just-"

"But I don't want to take the risk of you getting captured in the first place!" He yelled. An awkward silence filled the air... for about five seconds. "Fine, go to Bengion, do whatever you please! But just know that I'm not fond of this plan at all. If I had it my way, we wouldn't even try something this stupid and dangerous, much less put _you _in the front lines of paying for our stupid ideas! Go pack your things and leave whenever you want... just don't leave without saying good-bye." Ike didn't say anything after that; he just turned around and left, leaving me alone. I really had no idea what to do other than do as he said and pack my things.

I looked back to the medic tent and saw Rhys poking his head out of the opening. I smiled apologetically, but he nodded, waving me off to go pack. I ran off, heading back to my tent but not without my shoulder hurting a little bit. Once I got inside my tent, I pulled my shirt sleeve down to see what kind of gash the lance had made on me. There were three stitches that I could see and the blood was starting to dry up and cake together. I looked away and turned back to my bed. There was a note and some gauze laying there.

My name was written on the front in what looked like Rhys' hand writing. It read, "I had a feeling you would escape from the medic tent before your wounds actually healed, so here's some gauze. And if I don't see you before you leave for Bengion, I wish you the best of luck and... just don't get caught. Wouldn't want to loose one of my greatest allies in a freak accident. In best interests, Rhys." I chuckled and tossed the note on my nightstand. As I started packing my clothes up, my fear began to rise. Bengion wasn't the most pleasant group to be around, so I didn't really want to go on this mission. But it was for the good of thousands or millions of Laguz that were still in slavery. Information I end up getting could save their lives and make our job of getting them free easier.

Mindlessly, I put my belongings into my bag. Once I was finished, I went and said bye to Rhys. He wasn't too fond of me leaving, but he knew that I was too stubborn to back down from a mission like this. I knew it too. Once I left the medic tent, I ran into Gatrie and gave him a farewell hug. Smiling, he wished me luck and told me to come back safe. The blonde warrior also gave me a compass, telling me that it would help out. I thanked him and turned around as he left. That's when I saw Ike leaning up against a tree on the outside of camp. The commander looked up at me, a blank expression on his face.

I sighed and walked up to him. "No matter how sour you look, it's not going to stop me from going," I teased. He let a small smile creep up to his lips. "Come on, you know me. I'll be careful."

"That's what you said last night just before you get lanced in the shoulder," He reminded in a low tone. I shrugged my uninjured shoulder and smirked. He stood up straight and stared down into my eyes, pulling something out of his pocket. It was a silver necklace with a small crystal charm on the end of it. Without saying a word, he walked up behind me, pulled my hair over my shoulder and cliped the jewlery onto my neck. I put a hand over the charm and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What's this for?" I asked when he came back into my view.

"Just wanted you to have something to remind you of the Greil Mercenaries when you're with those filthy Bengion bastards. Something to... remind you of me... T-that is to remind you of me when I'm yelling at you to be safe," He said, scratching the back of his head nervously. I chuckled and wrapped him in a hug. His body stiffened, but then relaxed, putting his arms around me as well. "Be safe."

"That's like five times you've told me that in the past two days, I think I got the message now," I joked. He let me go, his hands lingered at my waist, but let me go as well. Not paying any attention to it, I smiled and turned around. After I took a few steps, I thought I heard him say something quickly under his breath. "You say something, Ike?"

"N-no. Good luck on your journey. Remember, no more than a week, got it?" He said. I nodded, pulling the strap of my bag up further on my shoulder. I made my way away from him, each step I took, a small part of my chest hurt. I had no idea why though. Ignoring it like I had done with Ike's small touch, I continued to walk away from the camp. The next step of my journey waited just beyond a hill of mountains and forests. The last known location of their central army was about forty miles from our camp. It was going to be a long trip, but the Intel was going to be well worth the effort. I figured that if I kept going all day long, I could probably be half way there by nightfall. Then all I would have to do is get through the night and make it to the army.

I walked for who-knows how long. I stopped on the way to pick some berries that I knew were safe to eat. But after that, nothing got in my way. I got bored and started to fiddle with my sword that was hanging from my waist. Using Gatrie's compass as a guide, I didn't get lost, knowing that the Bengion army was traveling west to the Laguz army's base. Night came too quickly for my taste. It seemed like I had only traveled ten miles at least, but that wouldn't stop me. Stopping at a cave that I had found, I pulled out a blanket I had packed, covering up. I didn't go far back into the shelter, well knowing that bears could be sleeping in there themselves, therefore, I didn't start a fire either.

The next morning at dawn, I ate some of the berries I had picked the day before. After that, I got my stuff together and continued my walk to the Bengion army. I move along for what felt like four hours, when I saw a camp. Red armor was everywhere as far as I could possibly see. See that, my gut told me that I was in the right place. Hiding behind a tree, I tried to make myself look like a girl that would belong in a run down army like this one. I pulled my hair in front of my right eye and attempted to at least act a little normal. I took a deep breath and walked in front of the gaurd's sight.

"Whoa, hey. Who are you? State your name, girl. Even though I really doubt it... You a part of this here army? Where is your uniform?" One of the two asked.

I let out a chuckle. "I'm not a part of the army, but I'd like to be. You got any open spots?" I asked. They looked at each other and pointed there lances at me. One of them touched my neck barely. I didn't even flinched. "So should I take that as a 'no' right?"

"We have all the troops we need! Besides, what a woman can do, a man can do better!" He said, narrowing his eyes at me. I looked behind them and took a small step back.

"Men... be so kind as to let this woman in. She should get a fair shot in joining _my _army. You are not the ones calling the shots on who gets to fight and who does not!" The tall man said. I've heard about him before, but I've never seen him before. His name was Zelgius, general of the Bengion Central army. A spike of fear rose in my chest, but I tried not to show it. He motioned for me to enter their camp and I followed. The two guards glared at me and went back to their original positions.

Zelgius had shaggy raven colored hair like mine and he looked to be in his early thirties at most. His armor was like all the others in the camp. It was red and since he was the general, it was big and bulky, probably to protect himself from enemy blows. But from the looks of him, he'd never gotten one scratch on him in battle. He had deep blue eyes that could freeze anyone like ice if you stared into them long enough. I wasn't scared of him, but there was just something about him that gave off a "potential threat" vibe. Hopefully in my time here, he wouldn't be a threat at all.

"So, you want to join my army do ya?" He asked as we walked around camp. I nodded once, scanning the area. It didn't look all that much different from the Laguz Army, which I found slightly strange. "Then tell me... what's your name and where do you come from?"

I had never thought about any of this. What was I going to tell him? Should I tell him my real name? I thought for a moment and came up with a fake name. "I'm Alex Kesller and I'm from... C-Crimea," I answered. The name just came to me, I guess. I knew someone with the last name "Kessler" but I have no idea where she is. She was one of my friends when I was little. That's where I got the name, so I figured why not use it?

"Crimea? If you are from there, why do you want to fight with a Bengion army? It only makes sense to ask, my dear, I don't mean to pry," Zelgius said with a smirk. I looked toward the ground, trying to come up with a story. They were fighting the Laguz, so why not have a revenge story? Those always hook people when it comes to recruitment like this.

"My parents were killed by a pack of Laguz. I forgave the beasts, but I still want to take justice for my mother and father," I lied. His expression softened, putting a hand on my shoulder. I flinched a little, but not enough for him to notice. How... how could a Bengion general be so... kind and gentle? "I like the Laguz, but this is the only way I get get my justice."

"I understand. That must have been hard for you. Now... how old are you?" He asked, continueing the interview.

"Sixteen," I said quickly.

"Quite a young age, yet willing to go to war with the Sub Creatures? I admire that. Now, let me take you to the training quarters. I'll see what you can do with that blade of yours hanging from your waist and then I'll see if you can use you in our forces. Come, it's just this way," The raven haired leader said. I nodded, walking right beside him. The feeling I had before... it was already gone. Now it felt more like... comforting, yet inforcing. I was begining to get confused. Was this guy nice or forceful? It didn't matter. I was here to gather information, not wonder about the leaders personality. He looked down at me, him being a good five or so inches taller than me. "What happened to your shoulder?"

I glanced down at my injury and put my hand over it, hiding it from him. "Got attacked by a bear while making my journey to your army, sir. Nothing to worry about," I lied again. He didn't respond, only walking towards the training field.

We entered a grassy area with ten men already training with one another. Most had swords or lances, but two had bows, shooting at trees while on the move. It looked exactly like our fighting ground back at the Greil Mercenaries camp! So much of this place was similiar to both the base and the base of the Laguz army. It was almost like I hadn't gone anywhere. Like the people changed, yet my surroundings had. It felt so weird.

"Men!" Zelgius bellowed. The ten soldiers turned around and ran up to him, forming a line. "Listen up, we have a new rookie wanting to join up with us. I want you ten to face off with her so I can see what kind of strength she's got in her."

"But sir, why do we need a girl in our army? We've got men that could probably do ten times better than her!" One of the swordsmen implied. The other nine nodded.

_"You wouldn't be saying that if you knew I was from the Greil Mercenaries," _I thought. Zelgius let out a low laugh. "Let's just get this over with." I pulled my steel blade out and took my battle stance. Zelgius moved out of the way and onto the sidelines as the fight began. Two of the lancers came at me. I parried their weapons, sending them flying. I elbowed one in the gut, making him topple over and loose consciousness instantly. I knew that Zelgius didn't want me to kill his men, so I only knocked them out to the best of my abilities. The other one went down with a kick to the head. The rest of the fight went on. It was actually pretty boring. They weren't much of a challenge. Seems like they were just as much of a threat on the battle field as well as off.

"Well... that was quite the show Ms. Kessler. I must say, those were some of my average men and you took them out like they were nothing. I think we could find a place for you... as my second in command," The Bengion general said as he began to walk out of the field. He turned around. "Come, I'll show you where you will be staying and I'll get you your armor." I looked back to all of the knocked out men, a small smile playing on my face. Then I ran up to catch up with him.

_"I'm in... I'm even his second in command! This is going to be a piece of cake. If you could only see me now Ike. You wouldn't be telling me to be careful now, would ya?" _I thought to myself. I put a hand over the charm necklace Ike had given me just before I left and smiled. This mission was going to be easy. Zelgius looked down at me and smiled. I smiled back, pretending to trust him fully while to him... it wasn't pretending at all.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

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My new commander showed me to a tent away from all of the others. Probably because I was the only female in the army. Mentally rolling my eyes, I set my bag on the soft bed. Zelgius came in with me and put a hand on his hip. "You seem like a mystery to me... Usually it only takes me about five minutes of conversation to figure a person out, yet your personality is still confusing me. You're different, and I like that. Here, catch," He warned. He tossed me some chest plates that were, what else, red. I caught them and nodded in thanks. "I'll be outside so you can change. Come see me when you're ready to meet the rest of the army."

"Will do, sir," I said. He stepped out of my room, leaving me be. I strapped the slightly bulky armor over my chest and one set over my elbows. It looked abnormal on me, considering that I've been used to no armor at all. I adjusted my leather boots and belt, making sure everything was kept neat. Quietly, I pulled out my journal and pen. I had kept one, but I never used it. So, why not use it now to write down the information I get from Bengion now?

In the blank page, I wrote: "_Day one. Bengion base. Getting in was a pain in the butt, but I'm in. The guards at the gate didn't let me in at first, just because I'm a girl. Go figure. But I passed the test that General Zelgius gave me. He even made me his second in command. With this new rank, I plan on getting all the Intel I need and more. But, knowing that when I leave, they'll most likely look for me, I used a fake name. Here, I'm known as Alex Kessler. But when I get back, that's gone. When you read this Ike... Ha! I win! I didn't get hurt on the first day! ~Abby." _I muffled a laugh at my own writings. I shut the book and put it in my bag, which I slipped under the bed.

Zelgius was waiting outside when I came out. He smiled. "Fits you well. Now, we must show you around camp. Walk with me, Alex?" He offered.

"Yes Sir," I said quietly. He chuckled and started walking. I stayed beside him. As we passed the soldiers, they gaped at me, probably wondering why a woman was wearing Bengion armor. I smirked in satisfaction. Two men were practicing when we walked by and one of them got stabbed in the foot because the other soldier dropped his sword when he saw me. Zelgius and I laughed, unable to keep our amusement a secret to the rest of them. Even the guy that had dropped the weapon was laughing, along with everyone around us.

"So, I asked you questions, so now it's only fair for you to ask me some, Alex," Zelgius said out of the blue. I looked up at him, confused. "I asked some questions, so you may ask me something in return. An eye for an eye you may say."

"Well... um, how old are you?" I said randomly.

"Twenty-two actually," He answered honestly. I thought he looked older than that, but that works too. Ike was about eighteen, so this was going to be about the same type of person to hang out with. Even if he was only twenty-two years old, he still knew how to take charge like a respected elder commander. I gave him silent praise for that, even if we was a Bengion bastard. But maybe... not all Bengion scum... were total bastards.

"Um... I can't think of anything other than that, sir," I admitted. He shrugged his shoulders.

"You'll think of something when the time comes I bet," He said, walking towards another tent. "This is where we have our meals. Just look for the sign up there for when we move from place to place to find it. Don't worry, once you're here for a little while, you'll get used to it." I didn't say anything. He moved along with the rest of the tour. I listened, knowing that I was only staying for about a week. I was surprised that no one knew me from the Griel Mercenaries. Oh well, at a time like this, I was sort of glad no one remembered me.

We ended the walkthrough at around sunset and we ended up back at my tent. He looked towards the horizen and seemed lost in thought. "Hm, that took longer than I thought. Come on, why don't the two of us go have dinner with the other soldiers? I know you must be hungry after your long journey."

I hadn't realized it, but I was. I suddenly felt a little hungry and took up to his offer. If Ike had taught me one thing it was to except food when it came your way. He's told me that over ten times when Oscar asked if anyone wanted seconds back at the base. The two of us made our way back to the dinning hall and entered. When Zelgius came into view, everyone stood up and bowed. I raised an eyebrow and glanced up at the raven haired commander.

"Greetings men! I have come with good news. I present you with your new second in command... and the first female in the army... Alex Kessler! May give her warm welcomes and great respect. The same respect that you show me! Understood?" Zelguis bellowed. The rest of the huge crowd said "yes sir" and then sat down. "Come, why don't you sit next to me?"

"You sure sir?" I asked. He nodded once, guiding me over to where he sat. He pulled the chair out for me and I sat down, thanking him. I scooted in toward the table and looked down to the food. It actually didn't look all that bad. I looked over to him and smiled. He smiled back, taking a bite. I followed suit... and it was really good. Not as good as Oscar's cooking though, nothing beats his stuff. We sat in silence for the most part. The only time he spoke was when someone came up to him to ask when the next battle was. He told him that they would be leaving this set up in the morning.

My nerves went on high. If we were leaving tomorrow, that meant that I would have to meet up with the Laguz army and that meant that I would see Ike and the others. I had never thought about that until now. Now that I'm a part of the Bengion army, then I would have to fight with them too. Would've figured that I would have known that from common sense, but... I guess I forgot. It seemed that Zelgius noticed my change in expression when he said that.

"Something troubling you Alex?" He wondered. I quickly turned my gaze to him, shaking my head. He narrowed his eyes in confusion and shrugged, going back to his meal. I sighed, suddenly loosing my appetite. After we were both finished, Zlegius guided me over to the woods. "I figured that you would want to refresh yourself after the long journey. Through these trees is a spring. If you want, you can go back to your tent to get some towels left in there for you. Or would you rather me fetch them for you?"

"I'm fine. I'll get them myself, thank you... And sir, you don't have to treat me differently from the other soldiers just because I'm a girl. I know how to take care of myself and I know how to take a harsh order. There isn't any need to treat me with such kindness like this," I insisted truthfully. I hated it when people give me a softer time just because they think I'm unable to handle it. He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I'm sorry. I just... I came from a place where harsh orders were given and I'm not too used to this sort of treatment." ... okay, that one was a lie, but who cared?

"It's quite alright, I'm just concerned is all. If you don't mind me asking, where did you work before this? Are you a wondering mercenary for hire or something of that nature?" He asked. I froze where I stood and shook my head, not able to come up with a lie to tell him.

"I um... don't want to talk about it, sir. I'm sorry, and thank you for showing me this spring. I appreciate it," I said, walking off and toward my tent. I heard him follow me. I ran into my tent and peeked out of the tent flap, seeing where he was going. He seemed to be heading back to his tent on the other side of camp. I sighed, saying to myself, "maybe he's right. Maybe a bath will calm my nerves. Then I'll go find him and ask when I can get that top secret information... but perhaps not quite like that." I grabbed a towel and made my way back to the spring. Lucky for me no one was there.

Once I got undressed, I jumped into the warm water. Zelgius was right, it really was refreshing. I sighed in relaxation and let the water come up to my chin. I rested my head on the rocks and stared up into the sunsetting sky through the think canopy. It was probably the most at ease I've been since the Laguz conflict started. But no matter what I did, I always got this feeling like I was being watched from somewhere. Brushing it off, my mind went blank. After about a half an hour of just sitting in the hot spring, I got out, wrapping the towel around my body to dry off. Then I got my clothes on and made my way back to my tent. A weird feeling rose in my gut. Walking around at night in a Bengion camp will do that to you.

When my tent was in sight, my pace got slower, knowing that I was safe... well, as safe as I get for being in my enemies camp. I walked into my tent and sat down on my bed, lighting the candle on the nightstand. I started to take my armor off, but as I glanced around my room, I thought I saw the silhouettes of people surrounding my room. I raised an eyebrow and shrugged, slipping my shirt off. Then I heard soft murmuring outside. Now there was no way that I was seeing or hearing things. I walked towards the entry of my tent and poked my head out, seeing about ten soldiers trying to get a show!

"Scram! This isn't a bar, you perverts! Get away!" I shouted at them. They all made a beeline, running away as fast as they could. Apparently they could see the shadow of my figure from the light of the candle. Sighing, I went back into my room and blew the candle out, taking the chance of changing in the dark. I could tell that this was going to be one of the longest weeks of my life. But as long as I got the secret information, then all of this was going to be worth it. Bring on the best challenges that you could possibly throw at me, I'll take them all on!

Out of the blue, someone called out my name from outside. "Zelgius, sir? Is that you?" I asked, walking out of the tent. It was him.

"I heard you screaming... at what sounded like some of my men. Is something the matter? What happened?" He asked back. I turned my head away from him and tried to back into my tent, but he grabbed my arm to stop me. "Tell me."

"They didn't do anything to me, so there isn't anything to concern yourself over," I said harshly. He narrowed his eyes at me. Even though I could barely see his face, his eyes were cold and demanding. I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat. "They were peeping on me, okay? Probably not a big shocker since I'm the first girl in the army! I'm fine, and I don't really care about it all that much anyway. Now if you'll excuse me general, I need to get to sleep so... we c-can go hunt down the Laguz army."

The raven haired general stared down at me and shook his head. "I'm sorry for the imaturety of my soldiers. I promise you, I won't allow it to happen again. Good night, Alex. I'll see you bright and early by my side at dawn." With that, he walked away. I sighed and walked into my room, jumping into my bed. Right as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.

I woke up when it was still slightly dark. The sun was just starting to come up over the many hills. Rubbing my eyes, I got dressed for the day, put Ike's necklace over my head, and put my armor on. I walked quietly out of my tent and looked around camp for Zelgius. He was helping soldiers get tents put down and supplies gathered for the fifty mile journey to our next battle. He turned around and seemed to be surprised to see me.

"Good morning, Alex. Why are you up? It's not even dawn yet. Could you not sleep?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I slept just fine, I'm just used to getting up this early in the morning," I answered. Ike had always made us get up right about now for early morning training if we knew about a mission in advanced, so I always got up this early no matter what. "Is there anything I can do to help make this go faster?"

"Yes actually. Could you go to the kitchen and help get the food and other supplies together? And when that's done, you can help get these tents down, if you don't mind," He ordered. I bowed and ran to the kitchen, surprising myself that I remembered where it was in the first place. The four people that were already there smiled at me. I offered my help and they gladly took it. The food was probably the quickest thing to put into storage containers. It was everything else. One guy got hit in the head with a huge spoon because some other guy got scared by a spider and jumped back. I laughed and patted the guy that got hit in the head on the back. He smiled at me and shrugged.

"Hey... I was um... one of the guys that was staring at you last night. Please fogive us. It's just, we're not used to being around women in the army, so... yeah, you get the picture," He apoligized. I smiled.

"No problem. I don't really mind. It's all cool, soldier," I said, still smiling. "What's your name so I won't have to keep calling you 'soldier,' soldier." He stuck his hand out, wanting me to shake it. I took his hand and shook it like he wanted me to.

"The name's Draco, commander. Yourself?" He asked. He had dirty blonde hair and light blue eyes. He had a bright smile as well. He seemed a little older than me, maybe about eighteen or even nineteen even and he had a thick country accent, much like Boyd. He also seemed like a really nice person, just can't keep himself from peeking on girls all that much. Like I said, I couldn't care less. Why a nice guy like Draco was in the Bengion army was beyond me. But then again, they could be thinking the same way about we people from Crimea, Daien and Gallia.

"Alex, your new second in command. And I suggest that you don't peep at your commanding officer that can get you kicked out the army, Draco," I teased. His eyes went wide and his face got red. "Only kidding. Now, come on. We've gotta get moving. What's your next job?" I walked out of the kitchen and he followed. I smirked. These guys already had my full trust.

"W-well, no one has really given me another job. But you can since you're second in command! What do you want me to do, miss?" He asked, seeming all military like. I chuckled.

"Why don't you tell me more about yourself as you help me get these tents down," I suggested. He nodded once and walked beside me. "So, where you from Draco? Bengion I take it?"

"Yeah. Born and raised. When my mama and papa got killed in a bandit attack when I was young, I wanted to join the army to get things like that settled and taken care of. I was able to for a while, but then this ol' conflict came up, so I said that I'd go with the army to take down those Sub-humans," He answered. I flinched at that nasty word he had used for Laguz. When anyone called them that, I would punch them in the face. But... if I did that, my cover would be blown in an instant. I only nodded and shot him a sorry look. Truthfully, I was sorry for him about loosing his parents at a young age... because I could relate to the matter.

"I... lost my parents as well when I was young. I know how you feel, Draco. Ah, we're here. Come on, help me with the stands!" I called to him when I started running. He rolled his eyes and ran after me. "Slow much? Come on, you've gotta be faster than that!"

"Well, you're very enerjectic for a little girl, miss! Wait up!" I laughed and tossed my head back. I was actually starting to... like it here? No... this was all work, nothing more. I was here to steal secret information, not make friends and have a good time. That was the last thing I wanted to do. If Ike could see me now, he would smack me upside the head, telling me to pay more attention to the mission and, what else? Be careful. He was always telling me that more than the other mercenaries for some odd reason and I had no idea why. Thinking of Ike made the all too fimillair butterflies come back to my stomach. Why won't this feeling go away? It's abnormal and I hate not knowing things.

Well, in the meantime, I guess I'll help get everything together. Then we're off... to fight my original commpany and my friends, the Laguz.

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Hope you guys liked it. Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8. By the way, don't worry. I remember that Zelgius is a Branded. It's never escaped my mind the whole time I wrote that last chapter. And this chapter takes place in Part 3 Chapter 2 in Radiant Dawn in case you're wondering. ;D

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By late afternoon we were at our new location. It wasn't as nice as the one we were at before, but it was still pretty good. I wasn't even going to try to take a bath in this spring, knowing that people would be staring at me the whole time. Zelgius got my tent over by the edge of the woods, away from the guys' area. But he put his own living quarters not twenty yards away. He said that if he needed to talk battle strategy with me, it would be best to keep close together. It was logical, but it seemed a little on the creepy side too.

After we got everything back to normal, Zelgius brought us all together. I stood by his side, looking at all the soldiers before us. There were probably more than two thousand people. I'd never been in that many peoples' presents at one time and it made me a little nervous just standing there. "Listen up men! We're going to corner the Laguz army! They, along with the small group of Beorc aiding them, the Greil Mercenaries..." He said, taking a pause. An unease whisper was sent through the crowd. He continued, "They're fighting a small group of Bengion bandits as we speak just beyond the hills. We are to show then that we mean business and that they cannot stop the fight that is Bengion!" The soldiers cheered for his speech. I only put on a slight smirk.

He and I moved through the crowd, a pathway being formed for us. I saw Draco in the mix of people and smiled at him. He smiled back. Once Zelgius and I were at the start of our forces, we led the rest of them toward where the Laguz were fighting... with the Greil Mercenaries. As we got closer, we could begin to hear the roars of the Laguz and the battle cries of the Beorcs. I looked up at my commander and shot him a slightly worried glance. He shot back a calming, reassuring nod. I never would have thought that anyone from Bengion would be able to calm my nerves. But then again, they are just people. Not freaks of nature.

We got over the hill rather get killed then actually commit treason on them. They were some of my best friends after all and there was no way in hell that I could hurt them. I narrowed me eyes, trying to see the people that were standing on the hill. I saw... Ike and the others, but I don't think they had seen us yet.

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~Ike's POV~

Ranulf, Soren and I were talking about how quick the battle was. They really did have great weapons, but their commanders didn't have any skill at all. Out of nowhere, a blonde Laguz shouted, "E-enemies to the south! It's the Central Army!"

We all turned around and yelled, "What?" I ran to the edge of the hill and stared down at probably the largest army I had ever seen in my entire life. I scanned the area for Abby, instantly seeing her standing... right next to General Zelgius? How did she get a rank that high in just two days? It didn't matter though... she was safe. But...

We had ordered Tibarn, the King of the Hawk Tribe, to try to at least stall the Central Army. "If Tibarn failed at stalling them... does that mean he's... dead?" I wondered aloud. Soren came up to me.

"Doubtful. I don't think there was even a battle. The Central Army arrived too quickly," He said in his normal monotone voice. I cursed under my breath. The whole army was here? Now? If we had to fight this huge army right now, we'd undoubtedly die within minutes of the fighting. The best choice we had was to retreat, and I knew that Ranulf knew that, but I wasn't sure if Skrimir would like that idea. My blue haired friend growled.

"We only know one thing is for sure. The enemy now has the advantage," He mumbled. I nodded as the rest of my company came up to see what all the commotion was about. They gasped when they saw how large the army was. I was surprised that the Bengion scum hadn't made a move yet. Again, I looked out toward Abby. She seemed to have a straight face on and was crossing her arms over her chest. She seemed almost impatient. I hoped with all my being that she hadn't turned on us. Sure, Bengion had a few... nicer things than we mercenaries had, but nothing could tear family apart. She was family and that's all that matters. The only thing that made me even think that she had betrayed us was that expression on her face. I'd never seen such a straight face on her before and it seemed very weird to see her like that.

Titania spoke up, saying, "There are still enemies to the north. This is quickly turning into a worst-case scenario." We all nodded once and backed away from the edge of the cliff. Skrimir was wondering what in hell was going on. I swear, he had a lot to learn before he became king... the only thing he could be king of is killing Beorc.

Ranulf turned to his leader and closed his eyes. "Skrimir, we must retreat. We're in serious trouble here." The red haired lion blared his teeth. That's the only time that I'm ever slightly scared of that guy, when he growls and snarls, showing off his huge fangs. It feels like if he hears one more word, he could pounce on me and snap my neck... and he probably would too if I wasn't one of his allies.

"Show my back to Beorc? Never! We will fight like the Gallians we are!" He yelled at his second in command. His soldiers stayed in the beast form, waiting for an order of whether or not to attack or not.

"Skrimir, listen to me! We must retreat. This is the Central Army we're talking about!"... Oh, Ranulf you shouldn't have said that...

"Ah, finally! Finally, we get to fight the Bengion Central Army! I've been waiting for this moment for so long!" He was probably three seconds away from transforming and saying, "Go for it and bring me the head of Zelgius" or something along those lines. I didn't want it to come to fighting. I have one of my men... well, women... out there on the Bengion side of the field! If Gallia sees her in Bengion armor, they'll kill her without a second thought. I couldn't allow it... but that wasn't my choice to be made. I follow orders, like them or don't, it didn't matter. Orders will always be orders, not matter who you have to face in the long run.

Ranulf sighed. "I can see you aren't going to change your mind. All right, if it has come to this..." His voice trailed off. He shifted into his blue beast form and hissed at his commanding officer. Skrimir laughed under his breath.

"You must be joking. You can't beat me, Ranulf. You know that," He muttered.

Ranulf, on all fours of course, got in front of the Gallian heir. "I can't let you... or our men die in vain. It's my job to keep you from doing anything that stupid," Ranulf countered. "If I have to knock you out to keep you out of this battle, then that's what I'm going to do."

"Fine... try your best." Skrimir shifted into his lion form and roared. It felt like the whole ground shook when he did. They seemed to be squaring off, circling each other, as if waiting for the other one to strike first so the match up could begin. The Laguz soldiers stared at their two officers and whispered about who they thought was going to win. I heard a couple of them even place bets of about one hundred gold.

Titania ran up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Ike, you have to stop them!" She pleaded to me. I shook my head and she raised an eyebrow in confusion.

I simply said, "No, they need to do this," and left it alone after that. They really did need to do this. This was a test of strength, but not of muscle and strategy. It was about learning from people with less power than you. Sure, Ranulf was at a lower rank and had less strength than Skrimir, but there were just some things that Ranulf could easily teach his leader. Some things about common sense, when and when not to retreat, just like this moment now, even about how to think of a battle plan like Soren does. Skrimir's world revolves around fighting and killing Bengion Beorc. Not how he could possibly use that strength and determination to a better use rather than just blindly killing people.

And while I was thinking of that wicked awesome speech in my head, the fight was over. _"Damn it, I missed it! Oh well... Holy crap, Ranulf!" _I thought to myself. Ranulf was bleeding badly, as was Skrimir. But the only difference was that my cat friend was knocked out cold. Titania and I ran over to him and turned him onto his back. He groaned, but was still out of it.

Skrimir changed back into his human form and turned towards his soldiers. I bit my tongue from saying anything. I had a horrible feeling that I was going to have to fight the Bengion Central army... which meant the possibility of facing Abby. What would I do then? "Men... We're retreating. We're heading back to camp!" Growls and roars of protest filled the air and my eyes went wide in shock of his choice.

"I thought you didn't want to retreat. What's with the sudden change of heart?" I asked. He didn't turn around to answer me. "Skrimir?"

"Sometimes commanders need to listen to the ones that are below them. Maybe they actually do have a good point or two somewhere deep inside them," He said honestly. He took a step forward and winced, grabbing his bleeding leg. "Damn it Ranulf. He… got my leg."

"Are you going to be able to walk back to camp, commander?" I asked, hating that I'm having to call him commander a little bit. He nodded and took Ranulf off my back. "Sir, I don't think that's the best decision with you being wounded on your leg of all places!" The hot-headed lion didn't listen to me and kept walking. I sighed and took one last look at the huge army before us.

Abby seemed to loosen up when I came into her view. I smiled slightly and turned around, my cape flying in the wind. We were done. We didn't have to fight them… yet. I knew we would have to eventually. But… for now I would like to believe in the fantasy that nothing bad would happen.

* * *

*Abby's POV*

The Greil Mercenaries turned back along with the Laguz army. I sighed in relief and Zelgius shot concerned daggers down at me. I straightened up by attitude and tried to stand tall. He didn't buy it at all. Once the Laguz army was out of our sight, we ordered the men to head back to the camp site.

When we got back to the camp ground, Zelgius wanted to see me in his tent. I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat. Did he have any suspicions about me? If he asks anything about the Greil Mercenaries, I'll just make something up on the spot like I've been doing. And I thought I told myself that I wouldn't even have the highest officials have any second thoughts about me. So much for that plan if he really did have a hunch that I was a spy.

"Sir, you wanted to see me?" I asked, poking my head into his tent. His back was facing me and I was shocked. I saw the mark of the branded on his upper right back. He turned around quickly and stuttered, trying to get an explanation out. In time, he just gave up and sighed, sitting down on his bed. "You're a branded, general?"

"Y-yes," The raven haired leader said quietly. "Please, do not judge a man by his heritage. Someone on my father's side was with… was with a Laguz."

"Don't worry I won't tell anyone," I promised honestly. His head shot up and gave me a surprised look. "What? Do you really think I'd rat you out to the senators? I'm a woman of honor. If I know you want me to keep something a secret from the senate, I shall." Well, I never said anything about the Laguz army and Ike. He smiled up at me and stood up.

"I'm just surprised that you are… alright that you're serving under a man like me. I bet that if the rest of my men knew, they wouldn't take a single command from me the rest of their lives. There is something different about you and I respect that… very much," He complimented. I nodded in thanks and smirked.

"Now, is there something that you wanted to talk to me about, sir?" I asked, getting back on topic. He slipped his shirt on and nodded, seeming like he was sulking. "Is something the matter?"

"Today when we almost went to battle with the Laguz… while they were retreating, Ike Greil was standing over the edge of the cliff. You seemed to react to it. I must know, do you have any relations with him? Or was it just something my eyes played on me?" He questioned, gesturing over to the small couch in the corner of the room. Why he had one in his living quarters, I'll never know. I sat down, as did he.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," I said truthfully. My commander raised an eyebrow, probably wanting me to explain. "He was one of my old employers back during the… Mad King's W-War. I left because I just didn't get along with most of their members."

He thought to himself for a minute. "Hard to imagine," He said softly. I was about to defend myself and ask if he thought I was lying, but he continued. "Very hard… how could you not get along with them? You seem like a person that could get along with just about everyone."

I sighed in relief and shrugged my shoulders. Actually, I didn't like Boyd… when he called me short and puny. When he did that, I wanted to smack him. Otherwise all of the mercenaries are like my family. "I liked Ike just fine, but the rest of them… they were just a little too laid back for my taste. I like to work twenty-four/seven."

"Which is why I trust you so much," He said standing back up. My eyes widened in guilt. Guilt? I wanted supposed to feel anything on this mission, not even guilt. But he was being so nice to me and how could I hurt someone that showed me respect and kindness? "Is something the matter Alex?"

"N-no, nothing sir," I replied, standing up as well. I bowed and smiled. "I promise, nothing will happen to you. I shall not tell any of the senators or your men about your mark."

"And for that you have my greatest thanks. You are excused," Zelgius ordered. I nodded and ran out of the tent. I couldn't believe it, but small tears were forming in the corner of my eyes. I wiped them away quickly and ran into my own tent. Sitting down, I pulled my knees up to my chest and sat there, staring at absolutely nothing.

I grabbed the journal that I was supposed to be keeping and grabbed my pencil. _"I figured out that Zelgius is a branded today. And I saw you today, Ike. On the cliff when we marched onto you guys. Sorry about that. I didn't really know how to convince him to not go. But… I'm starting to feel guilty for tricking him like this. He's actually a good person as are most of the soldiers here. The Senate is the one to blame. They aren't Bengion scum like we've been saying all of our lives. ~Abby."_

I slid the notebook under my bed and sighed. Nothing was going to make this better until I got back to the Greil Mercenaries. I had people there I could talk to in all truth. Here… I had to live a whole different life with a new name and everything. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done besides the time when I was a slave to them. That was the only reason that made me want to call them scum now. Otherwise… they were all good people. Zelgius, Draco, all of the soldiers were good people. They were just following stupid commands that weren't even their fault. Orders are orders, like I always say and a good warrior must follow them to the letter even if they're against it.

"Hey Alex, we're going to the dining hall! You wanna come with us?" I heard Draco ask from outside the tent. My head shot up and I gasped in surprise. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

"Um, t-that's okay. But yeah, I'll come with you. Just a second!" I called. I stood up and wiped the salty water droplets off my cheeks and pulled my hair up in a quick ponytail. I jumped out of the slit in the tarp and smiled when I saw him. "Hey Draco."

"Hey! You ready now… whoa, you look good with your hair up. You should keep it up more often. Anyway, let's get going. They probably already started without you!" He teased. I shrugged apologetically and laughed. "Come on, I'll race ya there!"

"Oh, you're so on!" I declared, taking off without him.

"Hey, that's cheating! Wait up!"

"You said it was a race and you never said when we could go so this is fair play!" I called to him. He took off and tried to catch up to me. I made up my mind with seeing Draco. For now, I would have fun and not think about anything but my life I had formed here. Then, when it was my time to leave, I'll remember my time in Bengion. If they ever see me again then they can think what they want about me. I wasn't going to let guilt get in my way. Not now… and not for the rest of my life in any situation that I come across.

* * *

Hope you guys that actually read this liked it! Sorry for not updating… I've been distracted by many things… drawing Ike, writing other projects, hanging out with friends, school, family crap… all in all, here's your update! ^_^


	9. Chapter 9

I'm home alone so I feel like working on this right now… Hope y'all like it! (Here's a warning… It's really long and there are a couple twists!)

* * *

Over the next couple days I got some pretty good Intel. I figured out where most of their secret bases and camp sites were, so now my side could easily find them and launch a sneak attack. And I found out that most of their attack plans involve fire mages at the front lines and the stronger men in the back to finish us off. It seemed sort of cowardly, but then again, it was a brilliant and well thought out strategy. Since Laguz are weak against fire, the mages would make them weaker and then the remaining soldiers would take the beasts out.

I was on my last day in the camp and I was actually sad to leave. I had formed a bond with Zelgius and out of the soldiers, mostly Draco. In fact, I was with Draco right now. He and I were training together. He used a lance while I had my steel sword. Small beads of sweat were forming on both of our foreheads; we had been fighting for about a half an hour without stopping or letting up. Without a word, we both fell on the dirt and stared up at the sky, laughing. We'd had enough for one day. Bengion soldiers train just as hard as the Laguz and they train rough.

"I think… I'm done, Alex," Draco said, out of breath. I smiled and sat up slightly.

"Me… too, thanks for t-training with me though. It was… fun I think," I muttered. He chuckled and sat up as well. He took my hand and helped me up, still smiling. I was going to miss hanging out with Draco. He was a pretty fun guy and he was kind of cute too. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zelgius. He seemed really tense for some reason. I turned to him and smirked. "Hey general, do you need me for something today?"

"I need all of my men. We're meeting the Laguz Alliance on the Ribahn River, claw to steel," He said with authority. Everyone looked at him and the whole field became tense. He came up to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Listen, I wasn't going to tell you this unless you needed to hear it. But the day I asked you to go to the market and get some things for the cook, we were attacked by the Hawk tribe. Tibarn seems like he's formed up with the Alliance, so this is going to be tough, okay?"

My eyes went wide. "We were attacked while I was gone? Why didn't anyone tell me about this?" I asked stubbornly.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't think it was too important at the time since they battle was done by the time you got back! But we have an informant… Naesala, the King of the Ravens gave us the Alliances' battle strategies," He explained. I was in shock. How could a Laguz betray his own kind? That was sick and uncalled for! I wanted to argue that the actions were wrong, but I obviously couldn't.

"And I'm being told about this now because? I thought I was your second in command that you told everything to!" I protested quietly. He sighed and put his hand on his forehead.

"Hey, I'm not perfect I forget to mention stuff sometimes, okay?" He defended. I shrugged and crossed my arms over my chest. He directed his attention back to the rest of the army. "Now, I need you all to prepare yourselves for a great battle ahead! All of us… versus all of them! Let's go, let's go we leave at three marks time! You've got one hour!" Everyone ran from the field and down the hill back to the camp grounds. Draco and I started to run, but Zelgius pulled on my shirt sleeve. Draco looked back at me and I waved him off, telling him to go on. He nodded and ran away.

"Something else you forgot and need to tell me?" I teased with a snicker.

His face seemed grim. "No, but I have an important mission for you while this battle is taking place. I need you… to infiltrate the Laguz army, not getting killed in the process, and take out their leader Skrimir. With him gone, the beasts will lose both hope and morale. Can you do it? I trust that you're strong enough judging by the fact you can even take me on in a fair fight," Zelgius directed.

"What? How can you expect me to do that? I can't take that huge lion on! He would kill me in a heartbeat!" I yelled. "Do you want me to die?" I know that I will never take him on, but I would still tell Zelgius that I would. All of the Laguz know my face, so they would never kill me. I would just tell Skrimir that I had to come back there to make Zelgius think I was fighting him.

"No, I want anything but that. I know you can do it because you're almost as strong as me. I trust that you can do it. Please… don't disappoint me. And come back alive," My commander said with daggers in his eyes. I nodded slowly and walked beside him, not saying a word. We split when we got to our separate tents. I polished my sword as I sat on my bed. I couldn't do anything else. I did put a few herbs in my bag just in case I did get hurt.

"Alex, you in there," Draco asked from outside my tent.

"Yeah, come on in," I replied. He stepped in and looked down at me. I managed a small smile. "Is there something you wanted?" He nodded and walked over to me. I stood up and looked him in the eye.

"What did the general want to talk to you about? He seemed kind of… depressed. Is something going on with him?" The blonde questioned. I looked away and sighed. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I've basically been given my death sentence. He gave me a mission to kill the leader of the Laguz army, Skrimir. The lion is strong and I'm not sure I'll be coming back alive!" I said, seeming like I was panicking. His eyes went wide with concern and he growled under his breath. "It's nothing to be mad about Draco. Orders are orders and I have to follow them like any other soldier here."

"I know, I know but… did he have to give you the hardest mission on the face of the continent?" He said, obviously becoming slightly frustrated. I put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. He pushed me off and mumbled something under his breath, but I couldn't tell what. "I'm going to go get ready!"

With that, he ran out of my tent. I sighed and continued to shine my blade for the next hour. Then I heard commotion outside, so I got up, grabbing my sword and bags as I headed out. I made my way up toward the front with the general. He looked down at me and tried to put on a smile, but I could tell it was fake. I didn't respond and just kept looking forward. He motioned for us to begin our march toward the Ribahn.

It didn't take us very long to get there. We could see the Laguz army heading towards us already. And we heard splashing in the river from their crossing. Zelgius looked down at me with seriousness in his eyes and I knew that meant to go now. I sighed and turned around. He turned me back around and smiled slightly.

"You're going to come back," He encouraged. I shrugged his hand off of me and ran away. I didn't look back either. I decided to make my way around them through the woods. If I went straight through the Laguz then I would most likely get killed by one of them. So, if I go around and get Skrimir from the back, then I wouldn't have any trouble.

I didn't have my sword out for once. I figured that if I did, then if the Laguz saw me they would attempt to kill me without a second thought. I crossed the border line of the Ribahn, in other words, crossing the safety line. Once I was in their territory, I was fair game to any rouge fighter. I could see the red haired lion commander from where I was, but knew he couldn't see me. I crept closer to the edge of the woods and saw that no one was standing by him. If I was actually trying to kill him, then this would be a piece of cake.

"Hey, Skrimir!" I called. He looked over to me and raised an eyebrow. His eyes went wide when he saw that it was me. He lion motioned over for me to come over to him and I ran to him.

"What in blazes are you doing here girl? I thought you were supposed to be undercover in Bengion! This is your last day, why come now?" He questioned harshly.

"I came 'cause Zelgius gave me an order to come and kill you! What else was I supposed to do other than actually come here? I didn't want to fight you guys, so I came to hang out back here; you got a problem with that?" I teased. He smiled down at me, something he's never done to me before and ruffled my hair. I smirked and stood next to him.

"You're smart for a Beorc I'll give you that girl," He admitted. I shrugged and watched the battle as I stood next to him. "Ike and the other mercenaries are at the Bengion senator base. We're going to torch their supplies, but don't worry we aren't going to kill the senators themselves. We don't want to anger then too much. Ranulf is taking Zelgius on right now most likely."

I turned to him and stared at him with wide eyes. "Are you nuts? He's really strong! Stronger than Ike, and that's really strong!" I warned. Skrimir sighed.

"Ranulf can handle himself just fine. I'm sure everything will turn out as we planned. Trust me," He reassured. I didn't reply. "Does Zelgius expect you to come back alive after you 'face me' young one?"

"Yes… why?" I asked.

"Only wondering, but you may want to return with some wounds since you 'fought' me… I mean, I am an awesome fighter so I wouldn't let you go unharmed," He explained. I nodded.

"I'll do that when I'm heading back. Thanks for the suggestion, sir." After that, it was quiet except for the roars and battle cries echoing throughout the battle zone. After about an hour of standing there, I bit Skrimir a farewell and that I would see him soon. He told me good luck, and then went back to ordering around troops. I ran into a dark blue, almost gray, Laguz on the way. He growled at me and roared. "Hey, hey, hey… I'm with the Greil Mercenaries! But then again… do you wanna do some damage to a Beorc? I'm going under cover for the Laguz Alliance and I need to come back with some wounds. Do me and favor and hurt me… whoa, I never thought I'd say that, but whatever!"

He stared at me with one eyebrow raised. "You are one freakish human. But… oh yeah! I saw you around camp before you went on your mission! Abby right? Well… if you really want to return with some wounds… so be it."

"Go for it. Go nuts, my friend!" I joked. He laughed and pounced on me lightly. "Whoa! I didn't mean _that _nuts! Just a few slash marks and a deep cut or two!"

"Oh, sorry… it's instinct," He apologized. I shrugged as he got off me and shot me a pair of big cat eyes. He slowly cut into my arm and stomach. I winced and let out a small cry of pain. "Hey, no complaining, you're the one who asked for this."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," I reassured. He continued to make small slashes on my body with his sharp claws and he kept apologizing for the pain. I told him it was fine and to go ahead with the deep wounds. He nodded his big tiger head. He made one on my right side, my leg, and the last one on right thigh. "Thanks… I think."

He chuckled. "No problem. Anything to get those Bengion jerks confused and out of our fur. I want this war done and over with as soon as possible and that information you have… may help put an end to it quicker. I hope you get back save and sound, human… I mean, B-Beorc. My name's Carter by the way."

"Thank you Carter… I'll see you tomorrow probably. Maybe we could train together when I get back to camp," I offered. He smiled… it was weird to see a Laguz smile in the presents of a Beorc like me, but he was. I've always thought the cats and tigers of Gallia had a cute smile when they were transformed.

"I'd enjoy that. Come home safe little one," He called before running off in the opposite direction. I took one step and cringed. Man, Carter had done a pretty good job of giving me actual wounds. Sheesh, the lengths I go for realism. I basically dragged myself back to where I had been with Zelgius before, but I couldn't make it; my cuts hurting too much. I collapsed and hit my head on a tree, making a cut in my forehead. I groaned and turned onto my back, throwing my sword to the side.

I heard footsteps around me. They were walking pace at first, but then they turned into running. "Alex, is that you! Hang on, I'm coming!" A voice called out to me. It was familiar.

"D-Draco, that you?" I asked the voice. The person picked me up and held me bridal style. I saw blonde hair and light blue eyes and instantly knew it was Draco. "I'm sorry, I had to run from Skrimir," I lied straight through my clenched teeth.

"Why the hell are you saying you're sorry? It's the general that should be sorry! He's the one that gave you this impossible mission in the first place! That's it, I'm taking you to him right now," He comforted. I buried my head into his chest and smiled a little bit.

"Thank you," I muttered, closing my eyes.

"No problem. Just get some rest before we get to his location. We're not that far, so don't worry," He said calmly. I nodded again. He carried me for about another five minutes before he started running. I opened my eyes and saw him running towards the general. I closed my eyes again; afraid of what he would say. "Commander!"

"Yes Dra—By the Goddess, what in blazes happened to her? Where did you find her and is she alright?" He asked as he took me in his arms to give Draco's a break.

"She looks pretty hurt. I saw her collapsed in the woods. It seems like she has a lot of claw marks and wounds on her… and her forehead is bleeding pretty badly too. Otherwise, I have no idea sir. Did you take care of that blue Laguz that came behind here earlier?" The blonde soldier asked. Blue Laguz… that meant Ranulf! I tensed up.

"No… The Hawk King took him away… but if he wouldn't have come, the beast would be dead by now. But no matter, for now, get her back to base and I'll take care of the Senators burning campsite. Go now, she's losing a lot of blood!" He ordered. I opened my eyes and frowned.

"I'm sorry… I ran away. I was scared," I lied again. He sighed and handed me off to my friend.

"None of that matters now, my dear. Do not let your mission blind you from what is really important: your safety. Get her to the base, now! That's an order man!" Zelgius said before running off. I looked to where he was running and saw smoke and flames burning in the sky. I was actually worried about him. Why run to a burning campsite? It was pointless unless the senators were still there. Draco ran toward a horse and tossed me on. I sat up and steadied myself despite the slight pain running through my body.

"Hey, don't move. You're hurt!" He commanded.

"I'm going to move if I want to, Draco! I'm useless otherwise. I'm weak for not being able to beat the lion," I said, trying to adjust myself. He shook his head.

"You have too much pride. We all screw up sometimes and it happens! No one can help it when we mess up. Sure, you ran from a fight, but doesn't everyone run every once and a while. Plus… you had every right to run, that guy is huge!" He said with a chuckle in his voice. He mounted the brown horse and let me lean on him. "Stay awake, we're going to be back at camp in a flash."

"Right," I mumbled under my breath. I had made two real friends in my week here. Draco and Zelgius. It was going to be really hard to leave them tonight. The thought crossed my mind for not even a second but; it made it into my thoughts none the less. What if I didn't leave? What if I really did become a Bengion soldier and leave Ike instead? No, I could never do that to him. I glanced down at the necklace he had given me before he left. It made me think of him and I realized that I could never leave him. He was like a brother to me… and maybe something a little more.

Not long after, we got to the medic tent. It was filled with wounded soldiers already. The healers that had stayed behind had their hands full and I felt bad for making them treat me when real warriors needed their actual battle scars healed.

Draco ran in with me in his arms. "Got room for one more? It's the second in command!" He announced. I put a hand on his chest and looked up.

"Just because I have a high rank doesn't make me any less important than the other soldiers," I said. I turned my attention to the healer that had run over to us. "Heal the others now. T-that's an order." He bit his bottom lip, but nodded, healing the next man. Draco laid me on an empty bed and sat next to me the entire time we were there. I was a little light headed. Maybe Zelgius was right, maybe I had lost a lot of blood just from purposely made wounds. Damn you Carter for doing an awesome job!

A sage came over to us with a mend staff. "I'm so sorry it took so long. We have so many men wounded," He explained. I smiled.

"Are they all healed now?" I asked. "I don't want myself healed until they are before me."

He nodded. "Everyone is fine now. They're walking around camp to see if they can do anything to help out with the senators. Now stay still." The blue orb glowed and my cuts were gone in a matter of minutes. I sighed in relief and sat up. "There… now everyone is fine."

"Thank you, I appreciate it," I said honestly. He smiled and closed his eyes. He looked a little bit like Oscar when he did that. It made me want to go home. I stood up on shaky legs, but Draco caught me. I looked up at him and smiled. He smirked. "Thank you as well… I owe you my life Draco. If it wasn't for you, I would probably still be laying in the woods bleeding to death, but… I'm still a coward for running."

He slapped me on the back of the head. "Listen to yourself! You escape death barely and took on a lion Laguz. I would be screaming in victory if I was in your position! You don't have anything to worry about."

"I'm just worried the commander will be angry at me. I didn't finish my mission. Skrimir is still alive and commanding the Laguz army Draco and I was ordered to take him out, but I couldn't! I'm going to be called a coward," I said with a sad tone in my voice.

"Why would I call you a coward?" I spun around and saw Zelgius stepping into the medical tent. I turned back around and wouldn't look him in the eye. "Draco, would you please let Alex and I talk alone for a little bit please? I would appreciate it."

"Yes sir," He said before walking out of the room. I still didn't look at him.

"Alex… you're not a coward. You're anything but that. If I would've asked anyone else in this whole army to take on a lion Laguz, they would have said 'hell no' but you didn't. I knew that even if you failed that I would respect you no matter what. Taking on an order like that takes guts and courage," He lectured as he grabbed my shoulder, spinning me around.

The next thing I knew, his lips were on mine. My eyes went wide, seeing his were closed. One arm was around my waist and the other was on my shoulder, our chests touching. My eyes were half closed and I actually found myself… kissing back? What was I thinking? I couldn't play with his emotions like this, he's a good person. I tried to pull away, but I just found myself leaning into him more. There was a part of my better judgment that said to let my mind go blank and just stay in the Bengion army. But the other part was yelling louder. It told me that deep down I knew Ike wasn't just a brotherly figure… I liked him. This confused me. Why was I kissing Zelgius if I liked Ike?

We parted and I stared at him blankly, my mouth hung open in shock. A blush formed across his face and he backed away from me. "I'm… I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me to do that," He said shyly. I never knew he could be like this…

"I-it's okay, it's just… I don't know," I admitted. "If you'll excuse me, I'm so sorry." I put a hand over my lips and ran out of the medic tent. I heard him follow me and stop when he saw me running. I ran into my tent and sat on my bed, panting. My lips were still tingling from his kiss. I could see that it was already sunset. I wanted to leave… now. But I knew it wasn't the smartest move since it was still light out. I would make a break for it once it was dark out.

I took the necklace around my neck and held onto it tightly, thinking about what I was going to do when I got back to the Laguz army's base. Convincing myself that I've been blind for the past ten months that I knew him, I smiled at my own stupidity. I had always felt a certain bond with him, but I could never place my finger on it before now. For the rest of the evening, I sat there in my little room, not wanting to go to dinner. I gathered up my things and put my journal on top of my bag. Deciding to take one last look around camp, I stepped out for a little bit.

Everyone was still a little upset about the battle today, but most were too drunk to remember what had happened. Apparently it was a Bengion tradition to drink on the night of a battle, won or lost. I saw Draco sitting with some of his friends and he motioned for me to come over. I rolled my eyes, but went over anyway. It would be my last night to talk to him as an ally.

"Hey, boss, you wanna drink?" He asked, handing me a wine glass filled with a red liquid in it. I shrugged, figuring that one glass couldn't hurt even though I was still only a minor and wasn't allowed to drink alcohol. I took a sip and thanked him. "You gave us all a scare today you know that right? All the soldiers were worried when they saw ya all banged up in the medic tent!" Obviously Draco was drunk… or else he probably wouldn't be acting this stupid around superiors.

"No need. I'm fine and ready for t-tomorrow. Good job today guys… even though we lost! A toast to losing! To hell with it!" I declared, raising my glass. They all raised theirs as well and smiled.

"Huzzah!" They all shouted, taking a huge drink of the wine. I snickered and started making my way back to my tent. "G'night miss Alex!" I waved to them, not looking back as I continued to sip on my glass of wine. I walked in, my eyes closed… but I could tell there was a candle lit. I opened my eyes and saw Zelgius… looking through my journal!

"You're… a spy for the Laguz army? How could you, Alex? No, Abby!" He yelled at me. I dropped my glass and kicked him, making him drop the book. He stumbled backward and I took that chance to grab my stuff from behind him. I made a mad dash out of the tent and glanced back. He ran out of my tent. "Stop her! She's a spy for the enemy! Alex is a traitor!"

Everyone looked at me and I have no idea what possessed me to do so, but I stopped and looked at all the men that were in hearing range. They grabbed their weapons and charged towards me. I put my journal in my bag and ran as fast as I could through the woods. I heard shouting at me and traitor comments thrown at me. I glanced back while still running and didn't see anyone. I took this time to lean up against a tree and catch my breath. Panic set in and my heart was racing, not just from running. My heart was racing from the fear that they would catch me and kill me with a blink of an eye.

Once I caught my breath, which didn't take very long, I began to run again. "Don't take another step!" A voice snarled at me. My body froze and I turned my head around. Zelgius appeared out of the shadows with his sword drawn and a hurt look on his face. "Why? Why did you do this?"

"I follow my motto to the letter. How many times have I said it around you? 'Orders are orders and I follow them no matter the risk to myself.' I followed Ike's orders and came here to gather information. There… there isn't anything more," I said softly as if not to provoke him. I could see his blade shaking in his hands. He didn't want to do this. "Come on, kill me! Do it if you think you actually can! Can you kill someone… who you fell in love with?" The black haired man turned his head away from my gaze and I knew that I had hit a raw nerve.

"S-shut up! What about you… I know, somewhere deep inside you that you don't want to leave! If this was all business, then why did you kiss back when I kissed you in the medic tent? Tell me! Or were you just playing with my emotions like a heartless wench?" He insulted. I took a step back and it was my turn to look away, a blush on my face. "I said tell me!"

"I don't know! I just did! Now… as I said before, kill me if you think you're able to… if you don't think you can then let me run," I persuaded. His blade was still shaking in his grasp.

"Tell me one more thing… what about my mark? Knowing your kind of character, it'll probably be the first thing that you blab to Ike when you see him next! If you tell him, word will get out and I'll be taken out of this army. Please, I beg of you, do not tell him. Don't tell him… do it for a f-friend," He pleaded. The last word caught me off guard.

"Friend, you say? How can you still call me a friend now? I betrayed you!"

"But that doesn't mean that off the battle field and after the war, we cannot be friends! I know that if it wasn't for that order of yours and if you weren't a Greil Mercenary that… you would have stayed with this army without hesitation. That much of your true character showed while you were with us the past week. You're true character was shown all through the time you were here and that's the person that I consider a friend. I cast aside the fact that you were a spy, that's the kind of person I am. I look past actions that even the person that committed them is guilty for," He explained, a single tear rolling down his left cheek.

I stared at him in shock and took a step toward him. He was frozen, not knowing what I'd do. I placed a small kiss on his cheek and let him see the tears running down my own face. "I'll keep your secret… my friend. Just do not do something for me in return. Do not… change." With that, I ran, leaving him behind. I had somewhere to be. The real place I belong… with Ike and my other friends.

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Sorry that it was long. Hoped you liked it otherwise! ^_^


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10.

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It was dawn when I finally stopped running. I was too scared to turn around and look to see if anyone was behind me. All night, I heard Bengion soldiers yell out directions to where they thought I was. Every time, I would turn another direction and lose them. Now, I had no idea where I was. I almost wished that I would have stayed on normal course and took the chance of getting caught. The only thing around me was trees and even more trees and bushes. Walking around nothing but green for hours on end could make you think you were going in circles and make you think that you had just past that tree with moss on it… but then you would realize that all of the trees had moss on them.

The humidity was harsh and I wiped the beads of sweat off my forehead. It was so hot and I felt like I could just roll over and die. But I knew I had to get back to Ike and the others as soon as possible. They were probably already looking for me since I was one day late almost. Deciding to take a break, I sat down under a large tree, cooling off in the shade. I didn't remember my journey to the Bengion base to be this extreme. After my few minutes of rest, I got up again and started making my way to who-knows-where.

Soon enough, I came across a small town. It was filled of smiling Beorc, so I was still in Bengion. That was a good thing… probably. It depended if I was close to the Bengion Central Army or not. I put my cloak on and put the hood over my head, hiding my face. I ran up to the nearest shop with a smile.

"Is there something I could help you with, miss?" The shop keeper asked. I nodded, pulling out all the gold I had in my bag. Counting it all up, I had about five-hundred.

"Do you have any fruit? I've been traveling and I'm kind of hungry," I said with a chuckle. He bent down and brought back up a hold crate full of apples and other food. "How much do you want for a couple apples and a loaf of bread?"

"Half of what you got will do just fine," He answered. I handed him about two-fifty and he handed me my meal for the day. I nodded in thanks. "Have a good journey!"

"Thank you!" I called back as I walked away. I put the apples in my bag and began nibbling on the bread. I turned back around and shot the man a concerned glance. "What town am I in? And how far am I from the Ribahn River?"

"Ribahn, you say? I have no clue, miss. Sorry, but I don't," He apologized. I shrugged and turned around. "Sorry that I wasn't any help!" I waved him off, not breaking my pace. I continued to look around the town and found some other shops to visit. One place would polish my blade for fifty gold as I looked around. Another place I really needed… I needed a new set of clothes. I used the rest of my money to pay for them and I used their little shack in the back to change. I bought a black t-shirt with torn up sleeves… since that's all they had. Plus a pair of tan jeans and a sleeveless brown jacket to top it off. I didn't take to fond of them though. They seemed too fancy for a mercenary like me.

I walked out of the shack and bumped into someone on accident. We both spun around, saying "I'm sorry," at the same time. My eyes went wide.

"Gatrie? What in the world are you—," I began, but he cut me off by wrapping me in an unsuspected hug. I gasped for breath he was squeezing me so hard. "L-let g-go! Can't… breathe!"

"Oh sorry," He apologized as he sat me back down on the ground. I caught my breath back up and smiled at him. "What are you doing here? We expected you back last night and when you didn't show up, we all got real worried! You do realize how far you are from Bengion's camp right now don't you?"

"No. I've been traveling all night. Soldiers have been following me since I ran away from there. Zelgius decided to search through my stuff and found my journal Ike gave me to record my findings in. I still got it, but they found out I was a spy," I admitted. He laughed loudly and patted my head.

"Ike is going to be so happy when we go back to camp! He's been missing you since you left that day. And when we saw you on the cliff that day when we first saw the Central Army, he wanted to just run down and see if you were doing okay. It took me and Shinion to knock some sense into him when we got back to base," He explained as we walked around the small town. I could feel my face getting slightly red. I pulled out the necklace he had given me and smiled.

"I kept looking at this thing the whole time I was there. I wanted to come home so much!" I said, looking up at the blonde. He glanced down at the piece of jewelry.

"You do know who owned that before you did don't you?" He asked. I shook my head. "That was Ike's mother's before she passed away. He must trust you a lot to give it to you just to go to the enemy's camp."

"This was his mother's? Elena wasn't it?" I wondered aloud. He nodded.

"Now come on, let's get back to the others. I was just in town doing a little shopping for Oscar and Rolf. But that can wait!" Gatrie declared as he grabbed my wrist and practically pulled me all across town and through the woods. He kept going on about what the mercenaries did while I was gone. Apparently they fought some Bengion people… then that's when the Central Army showed up, which called them to retreat. I apologized that I couldn't stop the advance on them, but he didn't seem to mind.

We walked for what seemed like twenty minutes when he ran into a dead sprint. I followed him and I saw the Laguz Alliance camp. My smile grew and I walked into the camp while Gatrie went around yelling at the top of his lungs, "She's not dead!" I couldn't help but laugh at him. The blonde could be such a dork sometimes.

Out of nowhere, well actually… it was probably because of all of Gatrie's screaming and howling, some of the Greil Mercenaries came running out of tents. First were Rolf and Mist, then Soren walked out of his with a curious expression on his face. I was tackle hugged by Mist and Rolf just hugged me. I laughed. "Did you guys miss me that much? I feel loved at the moment."

"It got boring without you teasing Rolf!" Mist pointed out, smiling. Rolf narrowed his eyes at the red head. "Sorry Rolf-y but it's true."

"Well, Abby, the only way you'll feel loved by me is if you brought the records of all the information you gathered at the Bengion army," Soren announced as he walked up to me… Oh my Goddess, he was smiling. I looked around in my bag for the journal and was about to hand to him when I found it but… I remembered a promise I made to a friend…

_"I'll keep your secret… my friend. Just do something for me in return. Do not… change."_

Those last words I had said to Zelgius rang through my head. "Hold on, I can't seem to find it," I said to the little mage. He pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at me. I opened up the journal and as quietly as I could, tore out the page that had the information about Zelgius being a Branded on it. Then I handed it to him. "There you go! Sorry, it was under some stuff."

"Excellent! I can't believe I'm saying this but… you did a good job Abby," Soren said before walking away with the information. Mist and Rolf stared at me.

"He just complemented you… Soren is acting really weird today," Rolf pointed out. Mist and I nodded in agreement. We all three laughed and smiled at one another. But then out of nowhere, Mist and Rolf backed away from me. I raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"ABBY!" A voice shouted before I was tackled from behind. I yelped and fell face down into the ground. "I missed you, sparring partner!" I mumbled something into the dirt. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Get off me Mia!" I shouted.

"Oh, sorry," The purple haired girl apologized as she got off of me. I stood back up and saw her smiling face before she hugged me. "We were worried! What took you so long to get back?"

"I um… got lost," I lied. She narrowed her eyes at me, as if she didn't believe me. "Okay, fine. I got caught and they were chasing me down. But don't worry, I lost them… but then I got lost as well. That's when I ran into Gatrie in a little market town and he brought me back here!"

She smiled. "Well, I'm just glad you're safe," She said. I nodded in thanks. Then, it was like she remembered something as she leaned over to me to whisper in my ear. "Ike was the one that was worried the most… you should go find him." My eyes went wide at the very mention of his name. I had totally forgotten that when I got back home… I would have to deal with my f-feelings for the commander. Stupid Zelgius for making me realize them. I could have gone my whole life without knowing that I liked the boss! Seriously…

"Alright, thanks Mia," I called as I ran away from her, toward Ike's tent. My heart was racing. I haven't talked to him in a week… what was I going to say? What was _he _going to say? When I reached the tent, I took a quick breath and walked in. The blue haired swordsman was sitting down on his bed, his hands running through his hair and his elbows on his knees. I smiled a bit. "I-Ike?"

His head shot up and he stared at me with a shocked expression on his face. I crossed my arms over my chest and smirked. Out of nowhere, he sprung up and wrapped his arms around me without a single word. My cheeks blushed scarlet, but I put my arms around him, clinging onto his shirt. I didn't realize how much I missed him over the past seven days. Ike let me go and looked me in the eyes. "How'd it go? Are you alright?"

I actually took the time to think about if I was truly fine alright or not. Thinking back on all the things that happened in Bengion… I realized that I really wasn't fine like I had told all the others. My heart hurt for Draco… Zelgius… all of the soldiers that had trusted me, I stabbed them in the back. I felt the guilt that had been building up the past day finally come to me. Tears started filling my eyes. Ike seemed worried and concerned when one fell. He put his head to my eye level and put a hand on my cheek.

"What's wrong? What did they do to you? What happened Abby? You can tell me," He comforted. I wiped the water in my eyes away and shook my head.

"I-it's nothing," I replied, trying not to worry him over something as stupid as me. He shook his head and tilted my head up.

"Look my in the eyes and tell me that you're not hurting," He challenged. I did as I was told, but I couldn't. I bursted out into tears and put my head on his shoulder, wrapping him in a hug. I heard him gasp slightly, taken surprise by my quick action. Then he pulled me closer, running one hand through my hair and the other around my waist. I sobbed into his shoulder as I listened to his voice telling me it was going to be alright. Nothing he could say would make me feel any better about the people I hurt and betrayed though. I told him everything that had happened while undercover. He listened closely, nodding and asking questions every once and a while.

My mouth was running so fast, I accidently said something I probably shouldn't have. "A-after Draco left, Zelgius kissed me and-,"

"He what?" Ike shouted, and then his cheeks turned a slight shade of pink. "That bastard, taking advantage of you like that… i-it's disgusting." I must admit, hearing him say that made me giggle. Just seeing him get so worked up over something stupid like Zelgius kissing me at a moment of vulnerability made me think that there was the smallest hope that maybe he liked me too. Or maybe it was just a commander looking after one of his warriors. I hoped that it wasn't with all my heart that it wasn't like that. I hoped that one day, maybe not in the near future, but sometime, that I could tell him.

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I'm sorry for not updating in like a month! I've been busy with archery competitions, school and… laziness contributed slightly to it too. xD Sorry… and I hoped you guys liked this chapter! Please review, thanks!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11. (It took me 11 chapters to figure out that I've been spelling Begnion wrong. XD My bad!)

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After the talk that I had with Ike, I went to my tent. He urged me to come to the dining hall for something to eat, but I refused. Really, I just wanted to go to sleep since the last time I had was about two days ago. When I walked into my tent, Soren was sitting on my bed like he had been waiting for me.

"Soren, what are you doing in here?" I asked in surprise. He stood up and opened up the journal that I had taken my notes in to the page where I had torn out the part that had Zelgius's secret on it.

"A page was ripped out of the notebook and I would like to know the reason why," He answered. I put my hands behind my back and swayed on my feet. "Well? Do you have an answer for me or not?"

"Well, when we came back from getting creamed by the Laguz Alliance, we all started drinking and Draco asked me to come out of my tent to have a drink. When I did and came back, Zelgius was going through my stuff, goddess only knows why though. When he found my journal, I grabbed it out of his hand and I guess he was still holding onto the page when I got it and it tore out," I lied. He stared at me for a moment, making me think that he didn't believe me. Instead of telling me how horrible of a lair I was, he just walked past me, his eyes closed. "Soren?"

"That's all I needed to hear, I don't need anything else. I just wanted to know what happened to the page. Are you not coming to dinner?" He asked. I shook my head. "I see… well, then have a good rest. If you don't mind later, could you come by and see me? I want you to help me with these notes that you took. No offence, but your hand writing isn't that great for a girl. Ike will most likely be there as well since he's the one who assigned you that mission in the first place. See you around." With that, he walked out with the journal under his arm. I have bad handwriting? Who would have thought? I mean, I can read it just fine, but maybe that was because I was the one writing it… oh well. For now, I just wanted to sleep. I didn't even take the time to take my armor off; I just lie down and fall straight to sleep.

When I woke up, it was fairly dark. From what I could tell, I had slept for about three hours, but that was just a guess. As I sat up, I remembered that I was supposed to talk to Ike and Soren about the notes. Wondering around the base, eventually I found both of them waiting for me outside the meeting hall. Ranulf and Skrimir's voices boomed from inside of the building and it made me jump. Obviously there was a huge argument about something or other. Soren sighed and motioned for me to come in with them.

The first thing I saw was Ranulf yelling at the hot headed lion, something about a fight they had on the hill. "If you were going to turn back anyway, why the hell did you have to fight me and break my leg?" He yelled sharply.

"I wasn't going to turn back, that's the point, you idiot!" Skrimir shouted back, slamming his hands on the table. All three of us jumped, even Soren who always remains unfazed by these types of events. "After I fought you, I realized that we couldn't win! If I hadn't of fought you, I never would have seen it!"

"Could you do me a favor next time we're going into battle and see it _before_ you break my leg and knock me out? That'd be great thanks!" The mismatched eyed Laguz teased harshly.

"Oh you are so going to get it!"

"Both of you calm yourselves before one of you kills the other one!" Soren stepped up. At his command, they both stopped shouting. "That incident occurred over three days ago, are either one of you going to just drop it and continue on with your lives?" The two Laguz were silent. "That's what I thought. Now… do you want the information that Abby collected or not?"

Ranulf looked behind the mage and saw me standing behind Ike in fear that Skrimir would rip my head off in rage. "You're home! Come give Ranulf a hug!" He exclaimed, referring to himself in third person for some odd reason. I stepped out from the shadows and embraced my mismatched eyed friend. He laughed and looked down at me. "How'd you do, 'Gail?"

Soren raised a confused eyebrow. "Gail?" He questioned.

"Yes, that's my nickname for her since her name is Abigail, got a problem with it short stack?" Ranulf teased the mage. Soren narrowed his eyes at him and I could tell he wanted to kill the blue haired cat. Soren's never had good relations with Laguz as far as I could tell. The only thing that probably kept him from quitting the mercenaries was his friendship with Ike. Why he hated the Laguz so much, I didn't know and I wouldn't question it either since I'm already on a rocky road with Soren anyway. "Now, let's get down to business. So short stack, why couldn't you decipher Gail's notes on your own? I thought you were the tactician of the army. Where'd your brain go?"

Soren's eye twitched and threw the notebook he had kept in his robes at his superior. Ike tensed up as did I. Skrimir did not appreciate bad attitudes like Soren's nor did he tolerate disrespect toward himself or Ranulf no matter who was the one disrespecting them. Ranulf caught the notebook and examined the information that I had written down. "Uh… I'm not sure what to say."

"Is your hand writing really that bad or is it the notes?" Ike wondered aloud, grabbing the book from his friend. "I can read it just fine! It's a little sloppy, but not as bad as mine! Now let me read it." I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. At least someone here could read my hand writing. I've had to write out battle and mission reports before, why couldn't they read this but could read that?

"Well, what does the information tell us?" Skrimir asked, folding his hands over his chest. Ike didn't answer and continued to read.

"You were his second in command?" Ike questioned as he looked up at me. Everyone else looked at me as well, which made me blush slightly.

"I uh… yes I was," I answered shyly. Ranulf glanced to Skrimir and he nodded.

"The little one came to me during the river crossing and told me Zelgius's plan for her. He wanted her to come and challenge me in combat, hoping to kill me. I told her to return to him when the fight was coming to a climax with a few cuts and bruises to make it seem like she actually did fight me. Did you do that little one?" The red haired lion asked me.

"Yes sir, I did. A Laguz named Carter helped me out with that," I told him.

"Good woman! I'll have to thank Carter for helping you!" He declared. Ranulf, Ike and Soren just shot me questionable looks, then to Skrimir. "Well he did help her. He didn't almost kill you did he?"

"Not necessarily, but I survived and it made it more convincing that I actually fought you, so it's nothing to worry about. Go on, read about what I went through the last week! The rest of us will talk about the next battle!" I ordered Ike. He shrugged and dived back into my findings.

"Well, little strategist, don't be shy, come sit next to me!" Skrimir offered kindly, seeming to drop his attitude he had before we came into the room. I smiled. Maybe Soren's hatred for Laguz was going to drop after all of this was over.

"Not if you begged me Skrimir." With that, the black haired mage ran in-between Ike and I.

There goes that hope. He still hates Laguz! "Soren! I'm sorry, he's rude to everyone, especially me, but mostly to people he's not accustom with yet," I apologized on Soren's behalf. He just looked away and clung to his fire tomb harder.

"You still don't trust me after all this time?" Skrimir questioned with a disappointed look on his face. "Then I will take the first step. I admit that we won the last battle thanks to your cleverness. I underestimated the wisdom of a Beorc. As a general of Gallia, you have my thanks."

Ranulf, Ike and I looked to Soren, waiting for his response. A small smile crept up on his lips. "… You're welcome." I smiled at his answer. Maybe he really was warming up to our Laguz allies after all.

The Laguz commander continued. "What do we do next? We hit Bengion hard in the last battle. Surely we will use this opportunity to wipe out the enemy entirely?"

There was a long silence before Soren answered. "Actually, it would be unwise to launch a new offense now. I recommend that we negotiate a peace treaty with Begnion."

Skrimir's pleased look quickly faded. "What? You'd give up our best opportunity to crush Begnion for some silly peace treaty?" Ike, Ranulf and I started to back away slowly. Without notice, Tibarn slipped in with only the three of us noticing. This was my first encounter with him and truth is, I thought he would freak me out with the huge wings and such, but he didn't. He seemed to have a calming aura surrounding him, but I knew that he was anything but calm when it came to battle. He was the hawk king, so of course he was going to be strong in battle. He walked in and silently took a spot at the head end of the table. He looked at Ike and smiled, then to Ranulf and did the same. When he saw me, his head tilted in confusion. I bowed slightly and smiled respectively. He seemed pleased by this and smiled back at me before turning his attention back to the matter at hand.

"For once, please try to think for a moment, Skrimir," Soren scolded. The lion gritted his sharp teeth in irritation. "Yes, we crossed the river, but we haven't so much as touched the Central Army. Not one scratch. Consequently, Begnion still has the advantage. It would be foolish to press the attack."

Skrimir clenched his fists together. "I must ask you to think harder! A peace treaty? Now? My soldiers will never accept this! We need another way!" He said, doubt in his voice. Tibarn crossed his arms over his chest.

Before Soren could retaliate, Ike spoke up quickly. "What do you think, Ranulf? Do you feel the same way?" Soren shoved his head back into the journal and sighed. "Fine, fine, I'll keep reading."

Ranulf sighed deeply. "Well… it's not so much how I feel, but we Laguz as a species. Once the fighting begins, Laguz can't see anything but the enemy in front of them. In a long fight like this, it's harder for us to keep ourselves in check," He explained.

"Same goes for my tribe," Tibarn added. His voice was deep and had a hollow ring to it. Skrimir and Soren both jumped when they heard him. Ike and I couldn't help but chuckle while Ranulf put his hand over his mouth. Tibarn merely smirked as he continued. "If we were to stop fighting now, I'd have to go around knocking every one of my men unconscious."

Ranulf nodded in agreement. "But, rushing into the enemy and getting killed is not an option. Soren, can you think of something? Maybe it's too much to ask…"

Soren shook his head quickly. "No, I can do it… just let me think," He said stubbornly. There was a short silence before he spoke again. "… Alright, I have it. Gather around the map, I'll explain what we have to do." All of us, excluding Ike, drew closer to the map that was laid out on the table and listened to Soren's battle plan for our attack tomorrow.

*The next day. South of Soze Pass.*

Our plan was simple and so far, it was working. Tibarn would assemble a small decoy force and attack Begnion, which would force them to move out. They were all near the top of Soze Pass and our plan was to drive them out from the south, west and north. Ranulf's unit was to the east, Skrimir's was to the west and Ike's unit was to the south, which was where I was stationed. I was standing next to Mia and Rolf, all of us waiting for our orders to come from Ranulf's messenger. Ike and Soren weren't too far up ahead when we saw Titania ride up to him with a worried expression on her face. Mia, Rolf and I ran up behind them to see what was going on.

"Ike, a company of enemy troops have appeared to the south of Skrimir's forces," She declared sharply.

"And General Zelgius seems to be in command," Soren added. My heart sank. Was I going to have to confront him again? It wasn't exactly on the top of things to do list and I really didn't want to face him if I didn't have to. Ike looked back, knowing I was there and saw the scared look on my face.

"Uh oh, that's not good," He said plainly.

"If Skrimir's force collapses, we'll get penned in by Begnion. We must change our strategy quickly," Soren said with a bit of panic in his tone. Ike and Titania nodded. "Ike, let's help with the rescue. You can't take everyone, though. Assemble a strike force to accompany you."

"Got it. Titania, let Tibarn know what's going on," Ike ordered. The red haired paladin nodded and rode off to warn the Hawk King. Soren went to go tell the rest of the company about what was happening. Ike turned around and saw the three of us standing there.

"Well, I'll take you guys since you're already here," He said with a smile. Mia and Rolf smirked, seeming ready for anything. I just put a hand on the handle of my sword, looking down toward the ground. "You guys go on ahead; I have to get my strike force ready." I heard Mia and Rolf run ahead and Ike put a hand on my shoulder, which made me look up. "You don't have to go. All you have to do is say, 'I refuse,' and then you won't have to face him."

"I never say no to an order, you of all people should know that. I'll go with you, don't worry about it," I replied with a small smile. He ruffled my hair and patted me on the back.

"That's why I like having you around, Abby!" He called back as he ran off to gather more members of his team. I sighed and went to go catch up with Mia and Rolf. They asked what Ike wanted to talk to me about, but I lied and told them that he wanted me to tell them to go on ahead. It seemed… that I was lying to more and more people the longer I was around in one place. I really hope that lying to everyone around me doesn't become a habit.

At the top of the bottom of the hill Skrimir's forces had been at, we saw a few of his soldiers fighting Bengion ones already. Fire mages were everywhere and ballistae were set up near the top to fire down on us. Nothing was going in our favor in terms of the Laguz since those were their two biggest weaknesses. I looked back to see who Ike had gotten for his strike force. I saw Boyd, Gatrie, Soren, Shinion, Rhys and Titania. I guessed that the rest of the mercenaries were still helping with the others on the opposite side of the mountain. Ike motioned for the three of us to follow the rest of the group and we did as we were told. When we got to the base of the hill, Ranulf and his party were waiting for us.

"Where's Skrimir?" Ike asked quickly.

"He charged up that cliff, chasing after Zelgius," He answered, pointing up to the top of the cliff.

Ike nodded. "We have to get up there. The two of us might be able to save him from Zelgius," My blue haired commander said. Ranulf also nodded. "Come on guys, form up and take down the enemy!"

"Kyza, can you carve us a path to the top?" Ranulf asked his second in command.

He saluted his superior. "Certainly, captain. I'd be happy to. We'll neutralize anyone in your way. You can count on me, sir." Kyza had silver hair and he seemed like he was very devoted to Ranulf, like he'd follow him wherever he went. Knowing his personality, he probably would.

"Alright, let's clear this pass. Time is a factor here, everyone, so let's make this quick!" Ike declared. With that, we all run into battle. Ranulf and the other Laguz are already transformed and running up the cliff. I take my weapon out and hold it at my waist, ready in case someone comes after me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that a tiger Laguz up on another level of the cliff being cornered by two swordsmen and a warrior with an ax. When I looked closer, I knew who the Laguz was. It was Carter! In a sprint, instead of following Ike and the others, I went toward Carter. "Where do you think you're going? Get back here and stay with the company, Abby!"

"I can't do that!" I called as I kept running.

"Why the hell not? I thought you followed orders!" Ike reminded. I stopped dead in my tracks, looked back to Ike, then back to Carter. He was roaring at his enemies and stepping back, seeming like he couldn't take them on. I bit my lip and stared at Carter from afar. "… Go." I turned my head back to Ike and saw that he was already gone. He was running up a hill with Ranulf by his side and a disappointed look was on his face. I sighed and turned my attention back to Carter.

There was a soldier at the bottom of the ridge with a lance. He glared at me and charged. He lunged and tried to stab me in the torso with his lance, but I sidestepped at the last second and kicked him in the chest, then stabbed him in the back. He fell over and I looked up the ridge that I would have to climb to get to Carter. I glanced back at him and saw he was nearing the edge with the two swordsmen closing in on him. I as quietly as I could, I toss my weapon up to the next level and jump to grab the ledge of the small drop. I pulled myself up and grabbed my sword. Carter saw me, but didn't show it, not wanting to blow my cover.

He blared his teeth and growled. The tiger pounced on one of them and the other soldier tried to stab my friend in the back. I didn't let him, sending my sword through his gut before he could so much as go an inch near Carter. The Laguz walked, more like limped, next to me after taking care of his soldier and transformed back into human form. His leg was cut open and had small cuts all over his arms, but he sported a weak smile.

"Thank you... I owe you my life. Those two would have killed me if you wouldn't have come," He said sweetly. I nodded. "You're the girl I helped at the river crossing right? The one that was gathering information behind enemy lines? And what are you doing here?"

I nodded. "I got some good info and you helped with that, thank you. Now, let's get down to the mercenaries; they can get your leg fixed up. After captain Ranulf got word of Skrimir's charge up here, he sent some of his men, himself and the Greil Mercenaries to help out with the rescue. When I saw you getting cornered, I had to help you out, Carter," I explained. He smirked and laughed. "What's so funny?"

"I've never… met a kinder Beorc in my life," He responded.

I shrugged. "It's the least I could do. Besides, I love being around Laguz. I was in an illegal Senate Laguz slave camp for about a year then Ike rescued us. So by living with Laguz basically all my life, I can't be prejudice towards you guys," I said while wiping the blood off my weapon. He smirked and transformed back into beast form. "You sure that's a good idea with your leg?"

"Yes, walking on three legs instead of just one is a better advantage," He replied on all fours.

I looked behind Carter and saw a fire mage trying to sneak up on us. He had his fire tomb out and he was already saying a spell. My eyes went wide. "Carter, watch out!" I yelled. My legs acted before I could think and I jumped in front of him right as the fire came at him. I held up my blade to try to block most of the attack, but most of it missed. I winced and glanced back at Carter, who had a surprised look on his face. I could feel my clothes burning and my skin was stinging. Obviously it wasn't a strong mage if it was only stinging. The attack seized and I ran after the mage and knocked the book out of his hands then stabbed him quickly, killing him. Carter ran up to me to see what was wrong.

"Why did you do that? You could have been killed!" He pointed out.

"I… know Laguz are vulnerable to fire magic, so I had to help you out," I answered.

"You are helping me out too much it seems. First you save me from getting sliced then you save me from a fire mage. What am I supposed to do now? How am I supposed to repay you?" He asked. I thought about that for a minute, but couldn't come up with anything good.

"How about this: after we get your leg healed, you help me take out some more Begnion soldiers?" I offered. He seemed to smirk.

"Sounds like a deal," He said. I petted his head and smiled. Looking at the damage from the fire mage, I would say that I had a few burns and some parts of my shirt and pants were burnt too. It didn't matter to me. Boyd got burnt by fire mages all the time and Oscar always fixed his clothes for him when we got back to base.

Carter and I then went to go find Rhys. After getting rid of some troops on the way, we finally found him near the top. He healed mine and Carter's wounds and then went to go treat Rolf afterward. I thought I saw Ike and Ranulf at the top of the next couple ridges. I motioned for Carter to follow me and he did, jumping from ledge to ledge and helping me up at times. When we reached the peak, the two commanders were fighting the generals that were blocking the path to Zelgius and Skrimir. Ranulf slashed one of the guys in big armor, sending him to the ground. Ike parried against a shot from a spear, disarming the man and stabbed him through the stomach. The looked at each other and pressed on.

"Go on, I'll stay back and make sure no one follows you guys!" My dark blue Laguz friend ordered. I nodded and took after Ike and Ranulf. I put weapon back in its seethe and caught up with them.

"Abby, what are you doing here? I thought you would want to avoid Zelgius as much as possible," Ike said as we ran. I didn't answer and he turned back to the path ahead.

Ranulf got there first and the first thing we heard was, "No!" Ike and I followed close behind and saw Skrimir and Zelgius fighting. The raven haired general swung his sword at the red lion and cut his shoulder. The beast roared and lunged at him, barely denting Zelgius's armor. The Beorc seemed to have a look on his face that said that he was done messing around. He swung up with his blade, then down on Skrimir's head and across his chest. I covered my mouth to keep me from gasping. Skrimir shot backwards from the force of the blows and landed on his side. "Skrimir!"

Zelgius made eye contact with me. I saw Draco, clear eyed and sober with the backup forces for the general. They both glared at me in hatred. Ranulf was about to run to his commander, but Ike jumped in front of him. "Stop, Ranulf! Don't get too close!" He warned.

Ignoring everyone on the mountain top, Zelgius walked up to the edge of the peak and in a show offing manner, swung his sword down. "Heed my words, Laguz Alliance! I am Zelgius, general of the Begnion Central Army!" He called. "Your general has fallen to my blade in single combat! My army does not wish to continue this senseless bloodshed. Leave this place immediately! Soldiers of Begnion, I forbid you to attack the fleeing Laguz soldiers! This fight is finished."

At the sound of his voice, roars and growls were heard near the end of the mountain where the Laguz Alliance was waiting. They wanted to press on, but Ranulf wouldn't allow it, I know he wouldn't. He ran to the ledge where Zelgius had been and yelled, "Stop! We will fall back! Brothers listen to me! I swear upon my life that I'll take Skrimir back with us! Fall back!"

"A wise choice…" Zelgius said from afar. Draco and another guy that I recognized as Levail ran up to the Begnion commander. "Levail, go back to base camp. I have business to take care of." At that point, I wondered if he wanted to duel me too or if he wanted to take care of Skrimir. In the meantime, his troops, including Levail and Draco, left the cliff peak. Ranulf was on his knees at Skrimir's side, seeing if he was alright. Ike was standing next to me with a serious look on his face. I didn't know why he did; maybe it was because he was in the presence of the enemy general.

"What are you plotting? You could have crushed us," Ranulf pointed out, looking up at the other. Zelgius looked away slightly.

"True. That's exactly what the heads of the senate want. But the apostle feels differently," He replied in a low tone. "The apostle wishes to resolve this conflict peacefully. Begnion is not united on the idea, however. So, how about this? Arrange a peace proposal from your people. The apostle would accept it."

"But… to begin a peace talk under the current circumstances…" Ike began. Zelgius cut him off.

"The most favorable opportunity for a peace talk would have been when you crossed the river." I bet Soren would eat this up when we told him what the general said. It'll be, "I told you so," all over the place coming from that little mage. "You missed that chance, and now look at where you are."

The area was in complete silence.

"Think it over. I'll give you three days. Request a peace talk within that time," The raven haired general continued. "If that isn't possible, negotiations are over. I sincerely hope that won't be the case." With that, he started to walk away down the path his men had took, but suddenly stopped. "As for the heir of King Caineghis, he will be fine. Treat his wounds quickly." I looked toward Skrimir and did actually notice that he was breathing slightly, something I had failed to catch before.

"You mean you didn't finish him off? Why not?" Ike questioned.

"It does not matter who the enemy is. If there is a way to avoid taking a life, that is the path I will choose," He answered solemnly. His gaze found me and I quickly looked away, ashamed that I had betrayed him. "Leave now. I swear upon my name that my men will not attack as you retreat." With a flick of his cape, he disappeared into the path down the cliff. Ranulf sighed and put a tired hand on his forehead.

"This war is taking its toll… on everyone," Ike said quietly. Ranulf and I nodded in agreement. "Come on, we have to get Skrimir down and back to the base." He and the cat Laguz began to carry the lion down the cliff after he transformed naturally back into his human form. I looked back once more at where Zelgius had been standing and sighed. I couldn't help but notice Ike's expression when I turned forward again. He seemed… reluctant or sad, I can't place my finger on it, but that was it; one of the two. I was about to ask him what was wrong when a group of Laguz warriors, including Carter, ran up to us to see how Skrimir was fairing. I would ask him about it later… if we had time later that is. With everything changed in the war we may… have to fall back and retreat.

* * *

How was it? Hey, I've been wondering, do you think Abby is a Mary Sue? Just something that's been on my mind. Review please, love it when you do! ;D


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

When we got back to the castle, it was nightfall and was getting colder by the second. We left Skrimir in the medic part of the large castle and then, all of us were called by Ranulf for an emergency meeting. We needed to discuss the battle and about our loss. I guess you could consider this a loss since Skrimir got hurt and we had to retreat. Soren kept glaring at me for some odd reason. Being the slightly immature person I was, I stuck my tongue out at him. He would always roll his eyes and shake his head. Sure, I was pushing it since he already hated me, but it was fun to tick him off, which made him hate me even more.

We all walk outside and enter the meeting tent. Tibarn, Ranulf, Ike and Titania were all standing around a table in silence. There was also someone I had never seen before in the camp. He was a heron judging by the white wings… I thought all of them were dead… just goes to show you what I know! He had long blonde hair and a white outfit on. His features seemed flawless and perfect. A true heron. But he also looked strong for someone of his clan. I thought herons were supposed to be frail and shy, not strong looking and have a hard glare. All of them looked to me and Soren, who had just walked in. Ranulf nodded once to us and we made our way into the circle of warriors.

Tibarn started the meeting off. "… Three days, huh? What will the beast tribe do, Ranulf? What will become of Gallia?"

Ranulf's eyes closed and he sighed in disappointment. "I'm sorry, Tibarn. Now that Skrimir has been incapacitated… Gallia can't go any further," He said with his arms crossed over his chest.

Tibarn sighed as well. "Right… that's too bad. I guess the Laguz Alliance has to take a break, then."

"What about you? Will Phoenicis agree to a peace talk?" Ike asked the hawk king. He answered with a shrug at first.

"I haven't decided. Our forces lack numbers and supplies. We can't possible take them on, but…" He began. "I imagine that a 'peace talk' would be far from pleasant."

"General Zelgius seems like a trustworthy Beorc… is he trustworthy, Abby? I mean, you spent a week under his command. You had to have learned something about his personality," Ranulf pointed out. Everyone looked toward me, waiting for some kind of answer. I kept staring at the floor, the question not reaching my train of thought.

Ike nudged my shoulder and my head shot up in surprise. He jerked his head toward Ranulf and narrowed his eyes slightly. "I um… sorry I wasn't paying much attention," I admitted shyly.

"Is Zelgius a trustworthy Beorc?" Ranulf asked again.

"Oh, uh… y-yeah, he is I guess. If he said he would do something, he would do it no matter what he had to put aside to do it," I answer truthfully. Ranulf gives a slight nod of recognition to my reply. Ike looks down at me as my head faces to floor again. The meeting with the raven haired general today… had me more thrown than I would have thought that it would have.

"I also know from the Mad King's War that even the apostle is not a bad person at heart," Ranulf said, returning to the main topic again. "But in reality, the senate controls Begnion right now. They were the ones who killed our messenger."

"I know that General Zelgius can't disobey orders from the senate, but what about the apostle?" Ike questioned. "She's Begnion's supreme leader, right? Can't we just contact her directly?"

"Trust me, we tried. All our efforts were in vain," The heron shot back. His voice matched his glare, semi deep and musical, like his galdr. It was an odd combination of sounds, but it sounded pretty none the less. "It's not just the Laguz, either. Tanith said the apostle won't even meet with the Holy Guards these days." My only question was: who was Tanith?

"Wait, she won't meet with Tanith? But Tanith has been by her side forever! There's something very wrong with all this…" Ranulf said quietly.

"What's happening in Begnion?" Ike said, getting back on the topic of Begnion instead of some person named Tanith.

Tibarn stepped up. "Well, we'll stick around and see what happens. The Laguz Alliance will disband temporarily. The problem is Gallia's retreat. You've got a lot of ground to cover before Begnion attacks in three days." That he had a point on. Begnion was at our backs already and we had to get out of here before they attacked the castle, it'd take forever to get far away enough before we would be safe.

Ranulf nodded in agreement, and then yawned. "Well, I guess that's all we can discuss tonight. Everyone needs to get some sleep so we can decide what we're going to do tomorrow. I say… everyone get up bright and early when the sun starts to rise." Everyone nodded and started to walk about of the room and having conversations. I soon followed, but I noticed Ranulf wasn't moving.

"Ranulf, aren't you coming?" I asked. The Laguz shook his head.

"I'm going to go to the medic tent and watch over Skrimir-," He answered. "I want to make sure he'll be alright through the night. Once morning hits, the healers will start treating him since they're already asleep."

"Can't you just wake them up to say that the commander of the whole army is really, really hurt? That'd make more sense rather than waiting," I point out. He shrugs.

"I don't want to disturb them this late at night. Speaking of late, you better go get as much sleep as you can, you look exhausted," He said with a smile as he walked out of the room, heading toward the medic tents on the far side of camp. I sighed and ran my hand through my black hair. Did I really look that bad? Sure, I was tired and my mind was a little off course, but it wasn't like I was dying. Shrugging just about everything that was weighing on me off my shoulders, I walked out of the room.

There was a slight breeze blowing through the night and I started to shiver, so I pulled the collar of my shirt closer to my face. Looking up, I saw thousands of little stars and a crescent moon shining in the black sky. I smiled and glanced to my tent, then to the path that led to the training field. Oh, who needs sleep during a beautiful night like this anyway? I made my way onto the path and entered the clear field, my gaze making its way to the sky once again. Laying down on the grass felt… nice and calming, I guess you could say. There was only me, the sky and whatever creatures of the night were out… hopefully no wolves though, because then I'd probably get killed since I don't have my weapon on me.

Sure, staring at the sky sounded dramatic and sort of stupid, but you try staring at stars for an hour, and then tell me what you're thinking afterward. It gives you the kind of time that you would use to think that I wouldn't even dream of using. Why did I zone out at the meeting? The answer was: I blame Zelgius. I hadn't realized it until now and I can't believe that I hadn't seen it until now. Maybe Ike was right; I was a little blind when it came to the obvious things.

Zelgius had me wrapped around his finger from the day I met the man.

I didn't love the guy, but there was just something about him that made me, not love, but attracted to him. Something that just made me feel bad for him about the Branded thing. He's lived his life in hiding for a really long time and telling by the look on his face when I saw the mark, I was one of the first soldiers to see it. Plus he was nice and caring. Maybe this guy had more of a grip on me than I originally thought he did. But, no matter how hard he was holding me, I'd never let the mercenary's hold break. I'd never really jump the fence… would I? No, I couldn't think like that. If I let my thoughts even just wonder to that thought, it may become a reality.

With the thoughts of who's side I'm truly on… I fall asleep in the field with my hands behind my head.

*Next morning.*

When I open my eyes, the sky's blue and clear with no clouds in sight. I go cross eyed and chuckle when I see that a butterfly had settled on my nose. That's what you get for falling asleep in a field, I guess. Soon it flew away after I sat up and looked around the area, as if it had changed from the last time I was in it. Standing up, I walked back into the camp grounds to see that it was deserted, and then I remembered that Ranulf wanted to talk to us this morning. Right as I was about to head out for the meeting room, people were already starting to file out of the building. Well, there's one important meeting I missed. How long did I over sleep again?

"Chick," A deep voice behind me said. I turned around and saw Shinon glaring at me. I've been a part of the company for about a year, yet he still insists on calling me chick. Was he ever just going to take the time to just learn my name? "Where were you this morning? The meeting is just now getting out."

"Then why weren't you in there, hm?" I shot back. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"When have you ever known me to go to something as stupid as meetings? Besides, I already know what the army of sub-humans are going to do from Ike. He was the first one to get out, the rest of 'em are just stragglers that stayed behind to talk to each other," He explained. "In all truth, chick, they meeting's been out for about a half an hour."

"Are you serious?" I said, pinching the bridge of my nose in irritation. He chuckled and pushed me on the back as he walked away. I wanted to punch the pink haired drunk, but not as much as I wanted to hurt Soren or Boyd sometimes. I shook my head, mad at myself that I missed the gathering and walked toward my tent… but not before someone pulled on my shoulder and spun me around to them.

"Where the hell were you last night and this morning?" A strict voice yelled. I sighed and turned back around, but Ike just got back in front of me. "Are you going to answer your commander?"

I groaned. "I went into the training field, watched the stars and sky for a while and then fell asleep, and I just woke up a few minutes ago with a butterfly on my nose! I missed one meeting, big whoop! You're not going to die because of it. Can I get back in my tent now?" I said harshly. He narrowed his blue eyes at me, obviously annoyed with my bad attitude.

"Are you going to let me tell you what the army is going to do, or not since you missed the briefing?" He said, folding his arms over his chest. I nodded slightly, cursing in my mind that Shinion just _had _to get me out of my good mood. He tended to have that effect on everyone that he comes in contact with, except for Rolf for some odd reason. "We're retreating today. We need all the time we need to get out of here. So, get your things together and we leave in four hours, so get to working and see where you're needed." With that, he brushed past me and I heard him muttering something about waiting and hesitation. Who knows what that man is ever whispering about? I entered my tent and grabbed my bag that I kept all my belongings in and started packing.

* * *

*Ike's POV.*

Goddess, why does she get on my nerves so much? Sometimes I really question why I like her, but then I think about the times when she's actually in a good mood and remember why. It's funny, the only time she's angry is right after she talks to Soren or Shinon or after Boyd pulls a stupid prank on her. Other than that, she's usually as chipper as Mia. I walked through the halls of the castle and made sure that everyone was packing and preparing for our long journey back to Gallia. After that, I went outside and talked with Soren a bit to sort of calm my nerves about everything. Then, he had to leave in a hurry for who knows what. I turned around and saw Reyson, the heron of our little group, so I went over to talk with him instead.

He looked over at me, then back to the horizon. "Ranulf has started his retreat. Tibarn and his men are gathering information on Zelgius's forces," I informed. He didn't seem to react. "Before he left, Tibarn asked me to take you to Gallia, where you'll be safe. Are you ready to go?"

He merely shook his head. "No. I won't leave, Ike. I won't leave this place."

I sighed. Great, first Abby starts disobeying and defying me, now Reyson? "Reyson, please…" I begged.

"I lived with the hawk tribe for twenty years. They're my family. I'll… I'll stay here and fight," He answered back quickly.

"… Well then, since I can see I won't be changing your mind… you can join up with us. The Greil Mercenaries can stay here as long as we want. After all, we're not on anyone's payroll right now. We're free agents," I encouraged. Sure, that would mean that I would have to tell everyone in the company that we were staying to protect Reyson, but if it meant keeping him alive, then I guess I was going to have to hear some complaints from people.

The blonde prince seemed to be taken back by my offer at first, but then he smiled. "Ike… thank you." I nodded and smiled at him. It wasn't a problem for me to stay back and it probably wasn't for any of my company, but I couldn't help but to feel that something bad was going to happen.

After I tell everyone that we're staying behind, I get a few moans and groans of protest, but most are flexible and are willing to just go unpack their stuff. The one person that doesn't voice their opinion at all is Abby. She just shrugs and goes back to her new quarters that she had been assigned in the castle walls. Everyone was living inside the castle now, no tents outside anymore. A lot of people liked the change of scenery.

For now, I was just wondering around with nothing to do other than paper work Soren wanted me to be doing, but even he knew that I wasn't going to let myself be ten feet within paper work. Out of the blue, I heard the sound of running footsteps. Turning my head toward the sound, I saw Titania running down the corridor.

"Ike, come out here! Hurry! It's the Begnion army!" She announced. My eyes went wide and I followed her outside through the main gates. Soren and Reyson are already outside waiting for us. I survey the area and see troops from Begnion surrounding us.

"What are they doing here? It hasn't been three days yet, not even two!" I shout in frustration.

"It seems they couldn't care less. They are demanding the castle back. If we don't comply, they'll attack," Soren informed. And, our situation just got worse. If we give up the castle, we'll probably be captured and killed. I'd rather fight them than just give up though.

"They were probably waiting for both the Gallians and the hawk tribe to leave the castle," The blonde heron added.

"Oh, they think they can take us now that we're all alone, huh?" I said with a smirk. "They obviously don't know who they're up against. Let's make them remember the name of the Greil Mercenaries! Soren, go get the rest of the company that's still inside and get everyone get in position! Let's take them out!" Soren nodded and ran back inside to rally the others up. He was a good strategist, he would know who to bring out and who to keep inside just in case something were to go wrong.

When he got back, I glanced at who he brought out with him. He brought Mist, Abby, Rhys, Boyd, Shinon, Mia, Gatrie, Rolf, Oscar, Llyana (A/N: Sorry if it's Ilyana with an I, I can't really tell in the game. Please correct me if I'm wrong. =D), and one of our newer recruits, Haar. And with the ten of those, we already had me, Soren, Titania and Reyson on the field. So, that made fifteen of us.

"Alright, I want all of you that can use long range attacks to get on the ledges of the castle where the enemy could possibly climb up. So that leaves, Rolf, Shinon, Rhys, Llyana and myself. We'll need one more person so that all the main entries are impenetrable. Let's see… Abby, you can use a wind edge right?" Soren asked the younger student. She looked up and didn't say anything. "Great, Mia has one that you can borrow. So, you five and I will guard the ledges. Ike, you and the others will guard the steps and stairways that lead to the gates that lead into the interior castle."

"But shouldn't we have someone guarding the main entry gate on the top of the stairs just in case we all fail to protect the front lines?" I ask.

"Yes, good point. Mist, Reyson and Boyd, I want you three to stay up top. That leaves Ike, Titania, Mia, Gatrie, Oscar and Haar to defend the stairs. I think this plan will work," The small mage said, seeming to smile only slightly.

"Alright, you heard the man, get to your posts! We must hold this castle at all costs!" I declare. With that, everyone runs over to their positions, but Abby goes and stares at her Wind Edge that Mia had given her. I knew she didn't exactly know how to use it, but we were just going to have to hope for the best. Titania, Mia and I took the main staircase, which was also the widest, and made a line with me in the middle of the two of them. There was at least a hundred soldiers staring us down, sizing us up to see how strong our forces were. I nodded to Mia and Titania and they drew their weapons. I drew my sword and looked back to Oscar and Haar, who were at the other staircase and saw they were ready. Gatrie was standing by just in case anyone needed medical attention and had to take their place. Soren and Llyana were taking care of one ledge, Rolf and Shinon at another and Abby was left at the smallest one. Even from this far away, I could tell her hands were shaking. I've never seen her scared for a battle in my ten months of knowing her. I don't know, maybe it was because she's never used a Wind Edge before, but I didn't find that very likely.

"Can you see the commander from here?" I asked my small unit. They both shook their heads and I cursed under my breath. I figured that if one of us was able to take down their general, they would surrender and retreat. But if we couldn't even see him through the crowd of people, how would we get to him?

I thought I heard someone in the enemy crowd yell, "Charge!" And the soldiers started to come at us. The three of us ran down to the end of the steps and took our stances, ready for anything these guys had to throw at us. I just hope that we could hold our line and protect the castle.

* * *

*Abby's POV*

How in the world was I supposed to use this thing? I waved my blade around, trying to make it work, but nothing happened. Soren didn't even let me answer if I knew how to use one of these stupid things or not, which I don't! Wind Edges were just weapons that I've never used before, nor have I even been told how to work one. Mia and the other sword users in our party made it look so easy, but apparently it wasn't. I looked to the ledge and saw three Begnion soldiers trying to climb up the wall. I yelped in surprise and swung the Wind Edge down, sending a gust of wind down at the first guy. I did a double take and stared at the blade.

"It worked!" I shouted randomly. I swung downward once again and knocked the second guy on his feet. I smiled triumphantly. Somehow, someway, I figured out how to use this supposed to be simple weapon. Out of the blue, an arrow flew up at my position, but I moved just before it would have made contact with my head. Startled, I almost tumbled down the edge of the castle, but I got my balance back. What was wrong with me today? I seemed more off than usual.

"Keep your focus, soldier!" Soren yelled at me from the next ledge. He said another fire spell and killed an enemy soldier, sending him to the ground. "I thought you said you could use one of those!"

"You never gave me time to answer, short stack!" I scolded.

He groaned. "You are an idiot! If you didn't know how to use a Wind Edge of all things, you should have spoken up!"

"Kind of too late to do that now isn't it?" I knew that if we kept fighting that we'd soon be sending fire and wind at each other instead of the enemy… but what can I say? He's easy to yell at. "If you would just listen to people sometimes and let them answer your question before rambling again, situations like this would never come up!"

"You cannot pin all this on me! You've been dazed since you came back from… look out!" My head spun back toward the ledge and the first thing I saw was an arrow flying at me. Instead of dodging, I closed my eyes in the split second it took for the arrow to pierce my left shoulder, right above my heart. I cried out and fell backward, clutching the wound. I heard my sword clang with it hit the stone ground, then rushed footsteps and shouts from down below the ledge. The corners of my eyesight were starting to go black and my hand was already soaked in crimson blood.

"Hey, you okay?" A girly voice asked me. I looked up and saw Mist looming over me. I merely groan in response. "I'll get you healed up and back on your feet, okay?" I shake my head. "What's wrong?"

"Run Mist," I whisper. She shoots me a confused look then sees the band of Begnion soldiers climbing up the ledge. She screamed in fear and backed away slowly, dropping her staff. With shaky hands, she pulls out her sword and faces them. I try to get up, but the throbbing pain in my shoulder binds me to the ground.

In the not-so-far distance, I hear a voice yell, "Gatrie, take my spot!" Then hurried footsteps running in our direction. Blackness started covering all of my sight slowly, but hearing wasn't exactly a problem. "No one hurts my sister!" The sound of a cowering Mist, bodies suddenly hitting the ground and metal clanging against more metal filled my ears. I hoped and prayed that Mist wasn't dead. "Mist, get out of here, it's not safe!" The same voice yelled, then I felt strong arms pick me up, increasing the pain in my shoulder and making me wince.

The last thing on my mind before I blacked out was that I screwed up… badly. I had put Mist in danger and the whole mission. Besides hoping that Ike's sister wasn't dead, I hoped that I hadn't cost us the mission by leaving the ledge defenseless. After that, I was gone.

* * *

This actually did happen to me… getting shot in the shoulder is not fun, my friends! So, what was happening to Abby was exactly what happened to me. Who would have thought that a stupid arrow in the shoulder could make a person bleed that badly? XD I still hang that over my dad's head just to screw with him. (He was the one that shot me while we were practicing my aim in the backyard... apparently _his own_ aim needed some work.) Anyway, hope you liked the chapter! Please review, you'll get a cookie if you do! *Holds out a plate of cookies*

P.S: You want the whole story about getting shot in the shoulder, PM me. ^_^


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